JAGATSINGHPUR/KENDRAPARA: An 18-year-old dalit girl out to celebrate the birthday of her uncle’s daughter was reportedly gang-raped by two miscreants at Chandgarh Majurai village within Jagatsinghpur police limits on Monday evening.
Police have arrested the accused Pritiranjan Behera (23) and Kartik Majhi (22), both of nearby Palasa village.
Sources said the incident took place when the survivor had gone to her uncle’s place, around 50 feet from her house, to assist with the preparations for his daughter’s birthday party. She was helping in preparing food in the kitchen when she was approached by a 13-year-old girl. The minor reportedly asked her to accompany her to call another friend for the cake-cutting ceremony.
Instead of taking the main road, the minor led her through a secluded path near a farmland. Suddenly, the two accused ambushed the 18-year-old, gagged her with a towel, and dragged her to the backside of a toilet owned by the 13-year-old’s family. Subsequently, the two men allegedly took turns to rape her.
Both the perpetrators fled the scene after committing the crime. The survivor returned home and informed her family members about the incident. She was rushed to Jagatsinghpur district headquarters hospital (DHH). A doctor of the DHH said the girl suffered external injuries and was bleeding. “Her condition is stable after treatment.”
Later in the night, the girl’s father, a daily wage labourer, filed an FIR in Jagatsinghpur police station. He alleged that the assailants also physically assaulted his daughter and threatened to kill her if she disclosed the incident to anyone.
Jagatsinghpur SP Bhabani Shankar Udgata said acting on the complaint, police registered a case under sections 70 (2), 74 and 35 (2) of the BNS, along with section 6 of the POCSO Act. Both the accused have been arrested. A mobile phone was recovered from the crime scene and forensic teams are analysing it.
Meanwhile, a fact-finding team of the BJD led by Bhubaneswar mayor Sulochana Das and former MLAs Chiranjib Biswal and Prasant Muduli met the survivor’s family. They also visited the DHH to enquire about the girl’s condition.
The BJD team submitted a memorandum to the Jagatsinghpur SP demanding strict action against the accused. Leaders of Congress and Left parties also condemned the incident.