College student gang-raped near Puri beach

Bhubaneswar: A manhunt was underway for one more person in connection with the gang-rape of a college student near a beach in Puri, police said on Tuesday. The 19-year-old woman, along with her boyfriend, was sitting in the casuarina forest near Baliharchandi temple when a group of youths clicked their photos and videos, and asked them to pay in return for deleting those, SP Prateek Singh said.

When they refused to pay, two youths in the group raped the woman while the others assaulted her boyfriend and tied him to a tree, he said. The incident happened around Saturday noon, but a complaint was lodged at Puri Sadar police station on Monday evening. Three persons have already been arrested in connection with the incident, while a manhunt is underway for one more accused, he added.

Among those arrested are Siba Sahoo and Manoj Behera alias Kalia, who allegedly raped the woman, the SP said. “Kalia was nabbed from Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border,” he said.

“The two prime accused were booked under different sections of the BNS and the SC-ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The third person was taken into custody for assaulting the victim and her boyfriend. A search is on to nab the fourth person who also assaulted the rape survivor,” he said.

Senior BJD leader Sanjay Das Burma, the former MLA of the area, attacked the BJP-led government in the State over the incident. He said the government should ensure proper security of Baliharchandi temple and its surrounding area, which is a popular tourist spot. Lakhs of tourists come to the seaside town of Puri every year to visit the 12th-century Jagannath temple, one of the four ‘dhams’ in Hinduism. The famed Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath also takes place in this town.

In a similar incident, a college student, who was out with her boyfriend, was gang-raped at the famous Gopalpur beach in Ganjam district on June 15. Ten persons were arrested in connection with that case.