A man was arrested while efforts were being made to find the second defendant, police said. (Figurative)
Cuttack:
A man allegedly abducted a 17-year-old girl and took her to a farm in Odisha’s Cuttack, where he and another man raped her for 22 days, police said today.
Originally from Tirtol, in the neighboring district of Jagatsinghpur, the girl had run away from home after a fight with her parents last month, they said.
While she was waiting to board a bus at OMP Square in Cuttack to return home, a man offered to leave her on his motorcycle, the girl told the district’s Child Welfare Committee.
But instead of going to Tirtol, he took her to a poultry farm in the village of Gatiroutpatna and held her captive in a room for 22 days, he said.
Then two men repeatedly raped her on the farm, she added.
The girl was rescued during the day after the farm was raided when some locals tipped off police, suspecting illegal activities on the farm, authorities said.
A man was arrested while efforts were being made to find the second defendant, a police officer said.
“A police team has been formed to arrest the friend of the accused,” said Cuttack City Police Deputy Commissioner Prateek Singh.
The girl was later brought before the district’s Child Welfare Committee (CWC) from where she was sent to an orphanage, he said.
A case has been filed under sections 376 (2) (c) and 376 (2) (g) of the IPC that relates to rape and gang rapping, and section 34, which is slapped when multiple people commit a criminal act.
The incident drew strong criticism from different quarters, with the opposition BJP and Congress launching an attack on the BJD government in the state.
The BJP Secretary General of State Lekhashree Samantsinghar accused the Naveen Patnaik government of failing to guarantee the safety of women.
Noting that the girl hails from Tirtol, where a by-election is scheduled for next month, she wondered how the ruling BJD will deal with people in the constituency.
Congressional spokesman Nishikant Mishra said the gang rape showed that women in the state are not safe at all. Demanding assistance of Rs 25 lakh for the girl’s family, he said the incident should be investigated by the criminal branch.
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