Two men allegedly gang-raped a 15-year-old girl inside a house at a secluded area near Gatiroutpatna under Chauliaganj police limits in Odisha’s Cuttack city. There he and another man alklegedly held her in confinement and raped her for 22 days, the police said today.
The Odisha media has reported that the victim, a Class IX student of Garama panchayat in Tirtol block in Jagatsinghpur district had left her house and was staying at the house of her elder sister in the Professor Pada area in the city for the last one month after she was subject to physical torture by her father. Thereafter, following some dispute between her sister and brother-in-law, the minor girl was asked to return to her home. While waiting for a bus to her village at the OMP Square, she was lured by a youth who took her to Badambadi area; then took her to a poultry farm at Gatiroutapatana where he forcibly raped her. Apart from the youth, his friend who had recorded the rape on his mobile phone also raped her. The duo raped the girl in confinement for 22 days.
The girl was rescued during the day after the farm was raided when some locals tipped-off the police, suspecting illegal activities at the farm, officials said. One man was arrested while efforts are on to find the second accused, a police official said. Acting on the directive of the CWC, Childline convener Narayan Shukla lodged a complaint in the Chauliaganj Police Station on October 13.
Talking to the media, CWC chairperson Mandakini Jema said that the victim in her statement has also alleged that the two accused had also raped some other minor girls in the house where she was kept. Meanwhile, the police, who have launched a manhunt to nab the two accused, who are absconding, suspect the involvement of a racket.
“A police team has been formed to apprehend the friend of the accused,” said Cuttack city Deputy Commissioner of Police Prateek Singh.
The girl was later produced before the district Child Welfare Committee (CWC) from where she has been sent to an orphanage, he said. A case has been filed under IPC sections 376(2)(c) and 376(2)(g) that relates to rape and gang rap, and section 34, which is slapped when a criminal act is done by several persons.
The incident drew sharp criticism from different quarters with the opposition BJP and Congress launching an attack on the BJD government in the state. Tirtol is where a by-election is scheduled to be held next month, she wondered as to how the ruling BJD will face the people in the constituency.
Congress spokesperson Nishikant Mishra said the gang-rape showed that women in the state are not safe and secure at all. Demanding assistance of ₹ 25 lakh for the family of the girl, he said the incident should be investigated by the crime branch.