Bolangir/Patnagarh: A man and three of his friends were arrested Monday in connection with the gangrape of a 20-year old woman under Patnagarh police limits of Bolangir district, police said. The four accused, Mahesh Sabar, Baichandra Bariha, Umakanta Dila and Ajay Mirdha all in their early 20s, were produced before a court, Patnagarh SDPO Sadananda Pujahari said.
Pujahari said Sabar had been in a romantic relationship with the survivor, a resident of a village under Patnagarh police limits. On the night of June 8, Sabar lured her to an isolated location near farmland on the outskirts of the village. While the two were talking, Bariha, Dila and Mirdha arrived at the scene.
The four men then took the woman to a secluded spot nearby, where they raped her one by one, police said. The incident occurred around 10 p.m.
Fearing reprisal, the victim did not report the assault immediately. Later, she mustered courage to file a complaint at Patnagarh police station June 14. Police registered a case-163/26 and took the accused youths in for questioning. During interrogation, they confessed their involvement in the crime, Pujahari said. In a separate incident, a 13-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted in Mayurbhanj district, police said Monday.
The family members of the victim alleged that the minor was gang raped Sunday, but Mayurbhanj ASP Deepak Kumar Gochayat said it was a case of sexual assault and not a case of gang rape. The male friend of the survivor has been arrested, while two others have been detained in the case.
