KENDRAPARA: IN a shocking incident, a 17-year-old girl from Chhattisgarh was allegedly gangraped at knifepoint, just 200 metres from the Kendrapara SP’s office at Jajanga in the district headquarters town on Monday night.
This is the third such instance of sexual assault in the state in the last 36 hours.
The crime came to light on Tuesday after the girl’s mother, a native of Raipur district in Chhattisgarh, lodged a complaint with Kendrapara Sadar police. Two persons have been detained for their alleged involvement in the incident, said police.
In her complaint, the mother said her daughter had gone to answer the nature’s call in the night. Two miscreants, in an inebriated condition, forcefully took the minor to a secluded field near their temporary tent on the Kendrapara-Chandabali state highway and allegedly gangraped her at knifepoint. The accused also assaulted her when she tried to resist them. They threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the incident, she alleged.
Police said the survivor and her parents sold brooms in the area and were staying in a roadside tent for the last three months. Kendrapara SP Sidhartha Kataria said acting on the complaint, police registered a case under sections 70, 76, 115(2), 351(3) of BNS and section 6 of the POCSO Act, 2012.
“A scientific team inspected the crime scene. The statement of the minor girl was recorded under section 180 of the BNSS. After examining CCTV footage from nearby areas, two suspects aged 30 and 34 years were detained. They are being interrogated,” he said.
Meanwhile, opposition political parties BJD and Congress came down heavily on the administration over the incident.
Expressing shock over the nature of the crime, Kendrapara MLA of BJD Ganeswar Behera said, “The incident points to the complete collapse of public safety. The BJP-led state government has failed to ensure basic security for women and children despite making them a key focus of their election campaign.”
President of the district unit of Congress Debasmita Sharma said the gangrape of the minor girl has exposed the alarming situation in the state.
However, district president of BJP Sasanka Sekhar Sethi said though police immediately nabbed both the accused, opposition is trying to politicize the issue.