Bhubaneswar: A college student was allegedly gang-raped in Odisha’s Sundargarh by five youth, including three of her classmates, who dragged her into a forest on her way back to home after college.
The three classmates and another accused were arrested and a hunt has begun for the fifth accused after the girl, a student of Kinjirikela Degree College, lodged a complaint at the Model police station in Sundargarh town on Monday evening.
“Although the incident took place on June 26, the girl had kept it concealed as the accused youth had threatened her with dire consequences if she disclosed it. She named the five youths in her complaint. Four of them have been nabbed and sent to jail. A hunt is on for the fifth,” said Sundargarh SP Soumya Mishra.
The 19-year-old girl, a BA first-year student hailing from a tribal community in Malidih village, had lost her father two years ago. She was under trauma after the June 26 incident and had stopped attending the college since then, her mother told police.
“Initially, when her mother and other relatives asked her the reason for not attending the college, she gave no answer. But finally she told them about the incident they persuaded her to lodge a complaint,” said police inspector Ramakanta Sai.
According to the complaint lodged by the girl, the girl who used to go to her college at Kinjirikela by a scooty, had lost her keys somewhere in the college on July 26. Two of her classmates – Nalindra Oram and Jaydeb Kisan – at Sundargarh offered to drop her home on their bikes and she agreed. A third classmate, Ranjit Oram, also joined them later.
The complaint states, the trio stopped their bikes midway and dragged her into the Putudih jungles. Two male friends of one of the classmates arrived in the jungle in a few minutes. The five youths took turns in raping her in the jungles even though she protested and begged them to let her free. The youths dropped her home after the incident and warned her not to disclose the incident.
The police swung into action upon receiving the complaint and arrested the three classmates and the fourth accused, Kishore Oram while the fifth one managed to flee. Police also seized a bike used during the crime. The victim and the arrested were made to undergo a medical examination at Bhawani Shankar Hospital in Sundargarh town. One of the arrested classmates, Nalindra Oram, was reportedly in a relationship with the girl.
According to a statement issued by the minister of state for home, Dibya Sankar Mishra, in the state Assembly on Tuesday about 1,752 rape incidents are reported every year in Odisha.
(With inputs from Sujit Sa)
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