BALASORE: Odisha police on Sunday arrested a 21-year-old man from Nilagiri area on charges of attempt to rape the wife of an assistant professor of Fakir Mohan University in Balasore district.
Sources said the accused Shankar Patra of Mardarajpur village under Nilagiri police limits, allegedly tried to sexually assault the women on Saturday afternoon when the assistant professor was not in his residence inside the university campus at Nuapadhi.
Police said Patra knocked the door at about 1.15 pm and posed himself as an LPG cylinder delivery man. The woman then opened the door and the accused immediately entered the house and attempted to rape her.
As per the complaint, the woman fought with him for nearly 20 minutes to escape and then moved to another room and locked herself inside.
Fortunately, her mobile phone was in the room and she informed her husband about the incident. When the accused came to know that the woman had already informed her husband, he moved out of the quarter but could not flee the university campus.
Informed security guards and other staff, who were present in the campus, caught the accused while he was trying to escape. They then informed the vice chancellor of the University Prof Santosh Kumar Tripathy. As per the vice chancellor's suggestion, the assistant professor along with his wife went to Remuna police station on Saturday evening and lodged a complaint.
Based on the allegations, police brought the accused to the police station at night and interrogated him. IIC of Remuna police station, Bimal Kumar Nayak, said the accused has been arrested in connection with the attempt to rape and produced in the court.
The university has engaged 16 security guards through an agency to guard the university campus. While some of them have been allowed to operate battery operated rickshaws for the commute of students and staff, the remaining guards are managing the security of the campus. The university authorities have asked them to remain fully alert and ensure that such incidents are not repeated.