BERHAMPUR: After being kidnapped and raped for two days, a minor girl from the Bada Bazaar area in Berhampur was rescued by police from a lodge at Simhachalam in Andhra Pradesh (AP) on Saturday. Bada Bazaar police also arrested the kidnapper identified as P Saroj Kumar Pradhan (35) of Sanadumula in Ganjam’s Digapahandi.
The accused had allegedly drugged the girl at Berhampur railway station and took her to Simhachalam where he raped her. IIC of Bada Bazaar police station Prashant Bhupati said on March 16, the girl left home without informing her parents. Family members launched a search for her but in vain. Subsequently, they lodged a missing complaint with the police.
Based on the complaint, the police registered a case and started an investigation. In the meantime, the victim managed to contact her brother over the phone. She informed him about her plight and location. On Saturday, a team of Bada Bazaar police along with the girl’s parents rushed to Simhachalam and traced her in the lodge. The police team rescued the girl and recorded her statements. Saroj was also arrested.
Bhupati said preliminary investigation revealed that the accused had spiked the victim’s food and drink at the railway station before abducting her. A glass and some clothes seized from the lodge have been sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory for examination.
The victim and the accused were brought to Berhampur following which the police conducted their medical examination. While Saroj was produced in court on Sunday, the girl was handed over to her parents.