SAMBALPUR: Sambalpur Police arrested six persons including a woman for their alleged involvement in the gangrape of a 16-year-old minor girl under Burla police limits in the district on the intervening night of last Saturday and Sunday.
The accused have been identified as Akash Das (28) of Godbhaga under Golaknagar police limits in Burla, Manoj Kata(27) and Sanyasi Pradhan (27) from Modipada under Town police limits in Sambalpur, Binod Jhara (20) from under Attabira police limits in Bargarh district besides the Dhaba owner, Jagdish Mahananda (54) of Samleswari Nagar under Burla police limits in Sambalpur and Sujata Das (34) of Satakamar under Kuchinda police limits in Sambalpur.
While the incident took place late on July 30, the father of the victim lodged a written complaint with Burla police the next day. As per the complainant, at around 8 pm on July 30, Sujata Das who is known to the family of the victim came to their house and took his 16-year-old with her on the pretext of having dinner at a Dhaba. As the girl did not return till 11 pm, the complainant searched for her and later came to know that she is at Samaleswari Dhaba in Katapali area under Burla police limits. Upon reaching there he was informed that his daughter was gang-raped and rescued by police who shifted her to VIMSAR, Burla, the complainant further mentioned.
The girl revealed to her father that four men intoxicated her and raped her taking turns. She reportedly also stated that Sujata and the owner of the Dhaba were involved in the incident. On the basis of the complaint, Burla Police conducted raids at different places and nabbed the four men along with the woman and Dhaba owner. During the investigation, Sujata confessed to having been involved in the incident. She had kept the other four persons informed of her visit to the dhaba with the girl. Together with the dhaba owner, they planned to intoxicate the girl without her knowledge. Sometime later, the four accused raped her inside a four-wheeler, police informed.
A case has been registered under Sections 366, 328, 370, 376-D and 114 of the IPC besides section 6 and 17 of the Pocso Act. The car has also been seized by the police. Burla IIC, Kamal Panda said, “The minor girl is now undergoing treatment and further follow-up action will be taken if she is discharged from the hospital. During the investigation, it was also found that Sujata was earlier arrested under Kuchinda police limits in a similar case and was forwarded to court. She is involved in pushing young girls into prostitution.”