Police say further investigation is underway (Representative)
Cuttack:
Six people, including a minor, have been arrested in Odisha’s Cuttack district for allegedly raping a 19-year-old college student multiple times and videographing the act, police said on Friday.
The girl has filed a complaint at the Badambadi police station in Cuttack and has accused her boyfriend and the accused of raping her.
The college student, to celebrate her birthday, went to celebrate Dussehra at a cafe in Cuttack’s Purighat police station and claimed that her boyfriend captured some intimate moments there on his phone, allegedly with the help of the cafe owner.
They blackmailed the woman by showing them intimate videos and raped her several times, Cuttack DCP Jagmohan Meena told reporters.
He said that the woman’s boyfriend, cafe owner, a boy and three others were arrested within two days based on the complaint filed on November 4.
They have been booked under various sections of BNS, IT Act and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Police also recovered videos from their mobile phones which were sent to the state forensic science laboratory in Bhubaneswar for testing, the official added.
Meena told the press conference that the victim was sexually assaulted twice by the accused.
The DCP urged any woman who has been blackmailed to file a complaint without fear or hesitation.
In Bhubaneswar, Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan said that the government will ensure that the culprits are prosecuted.
“The government will take strict action in the case of gang rape in Cuttack. Chief Minister Mohancharan Majhi has instructed the police to take strict action against those involved in violence against women on various occasions,” the minister said.
Efforts are underway to declare Odisha a crime-free state for women by 2036, the minister said.
(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)