JAGATSINGHPUR: A sub-inspector (SI) of police from Puri, who had been on the run for the past five months after allegedly subjecting a minor girl to mental and physical torture following his marriage to her, was arrested from Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.
The SI, Amit Padhi, was earlier suspended from duty by the Puri superintendent of police. According to sources, Padhi, of Ratei village under Baliapal police limits in Balasore, was serving as an SI in Puri. He came in contact with a 15-year-old girl from Khairang village in Jagatsinghpur district through Facebook in 2023.
The two reportedly developed a relationship and later married at a temple in Rayagada in 2024, shortly after the girl turned 16. At that time, Padhi was posted in Rayagada. The victim, then a Class X student, was allegedly subjected to physical and mental harassment by her husband and in-laws soon after the marriage. Unable to bear the abuse, she returned to her parents’ home in Jagatsinghpur.
On April 23, the victim’s mother lodged a complaint at Jagatsinghpur police station, accusing Padhi, his father Binoda Padhi, his mother Jayanti Padhi, and other family members of torturing and sexually exploiting her daughter. The girl, now 17, also submitted her birth certificate to prove her age at the time of the incidents.
Based on the complaint, police registered a case under multiple sections of the BNS, along with sections 6 and 17 of the POCSO Act and sections 9 and 10 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. Despite the seriousness of the charges and a court-issued warrant, no arrests were made for nearly five months.
The victim’s mother had repeatedly approached senior police officials, including the Jagatsinghpur SP, alleging deliberate inaction in the case as the accused belonged to the police force. She had also filed a petition in court seeking justice for her daughter.
Jagatsinghpur SP Bhawani Shankar Udgata said, “We arrested the SI from Visakhapatnam after tracking his cellphone. He was produced in court.”
