BERHAMPUR: A youth allegedly raped a 35-year-old woman after waylaying her husband near the bus stand in Rayagada town on Tuesday night.
The survivor is a resident of Bandhugaon block in Koraput district. Police have detained the youth, whose identity is yet to be disclosed, and are interrogating him.
Sources said the woman and her husband returned from Tamil Nadu and alighted at Rayagada railway station on Tuesday evening. At around 8 pm, they reached Rayagada bus stand to board a bus to Bandhugaon.
The accused youth approached the couple and told them that no buses were available to their destination at night. Claiming that it was unsafe to stay at the bus stand, he offered them shelter in his house till morning. Trusting his words, the unsuspecting couple agreed.
The youth allegedly asked the woman to wait at the bus stand and took her husband to a nearby location on the pretext of bringing food. He reportedly asked the husband to wait near an eatery and left. When the accused did not return after nearly an hour, the husband returned to the bus stand and found his wife missing. He asked the local shopkeepers and was informed that his wife had left with the accused.
Soon after, the woman returned to the bus stand and told her husband that the youth had taken her to an isolated place and raped her. Subsequently, the couple went to Rayagada Town police station and filed an FIR.
Basing on the complaint, police registered a case and sent the woman to the local hospital for medical examination on Wednesday. Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Rayagada Gourahari Sahu along with a scientific team visited the bus stand and after investigation, located the crime scene near Koilasahi. Police recovered a handkerchief and cap belonging to the accused, from the spot.
Basing on the couple’s description of the youth and statements of the shopkeepers, police identified the accused and nabbed him on Wednesday evening. He is being questioned and further investigation is underway, police said.