BHUBANESWAR/PURI: In another shocking incident, a teenage student was allegedly gangraped by two youths in front of her boyfriend at the popular tourist spot Baliharichandi beach under Brahmagiri police limits of Puri.
The incident took place on Saturday and came to light after a complaint was registered on Monday. In fact, the victim was initially reluctant to report the matter but Puri police persuaded her to lodge the complaint and swung into action by arresting the two accused.
Police said, the survivor along with her male friend had gone to Baliharichandi beach on Saturday afternoon where they encountered the accused, who started recording videos of the couple and tried to extort money from them. This led to a heated exchange and the accused overpowered the victim’s friend and assaulted him.
Later, they took turns to sexually assault the girl. After the incident, the accused youth fled the spot but the matter reached police which sent in a team and traced the victim. The girl shared the details of her ordeal and even gave description of the accused. However, she initially refused to lodge a formal complaint, fearing social stigma.
Police, though, continued its probe and tried to convince the survivor to report the crime. “On Monday, she lodged a complaint with Brahmagiri police and we immediately arrested the accused,” Puri SP Prateek Singh said.
Police registered a case under section 70 of BNS and sent the girl for medical examination to the district headquarters hospital. The cops also seized mobile phones of the accused to check videos of the couple
Sources, however, said the two had deleted the videos before police apprehended them. The devices would be sent to the State Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Bhubaneswar for examination and retrieve the data. The youths involved in the crime are all locals and their criminal antecedents are being verified, police said. The incident comes as a chilling reminder of the Gopalpur incident in June when a 20-year-old student was gangraped by 10 persons in front of her male friend.