Sambalpur: A female post graduate (PG) student of Sambalpur University was left critically injured after being hit with a brick on head by her male friend here Wednesday night. The woman was rescued in a pool of blood along the VIP Road Wednesday night. The incident occurred near the VIP Road connecting the varsity and Atal Chowk at Burla. Police have arrested the accused, identified as Rakesh Dash, 50, a married man and an employee of Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC) in the town. This was stated here by IG (North) Himansu Kumar Lal and Sambalpur SP Mukesh Kumar Bhamoo at a press conference organised at the district police office here Thursday.
Police recovered the victim’s missing mobile phone and the cement brick used in the attack. Meanwhile, the victim, a second year PG student of the library science department and a resident of Burla, was shifted to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar for advanced medical treatment due to the severity of her injuries. The woman’s father fi led a complaint at Burla police station, leading to the registration of case (76/25) under Sections 109(1) and 3(5) of BNS. The accused was produced in the court and remanded to judicial custody. Police have stated that an investigation into the incident is underway. Preliminary findings indicated that the girl had been in a relationship with the accused for the past two months. Rakesh called the girl to meet him near the Metakani temple Wednesday afternoon. Accordingly, the girl arrived at the location much earlier and was engaged in a conversation with someone on her mobile phone.
Seeing this, Rakesh suspected that she was talking to another man and asked her to discontinue the call. As she did not heed his request, the accused lost his temper and repeatedly attacked her with a cement block lying nearby. The victim sustained severe head injuries, leading to excessive bleeding, and collapsed on the spot. Rakesh fled the scene leaving her in a critical condition. The girl remained unconscious for an extended period.
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Later in the evening, some local residents and passersby spotted her and alerted the police, who rushed to the spot and rescued the woman. She was first taken to VIMSAR, where doctors observed deep head wounds and significant blood loss. Later, police scanned the CCTV footage from various locations in the area and tracked down the accused person.
