20-year-old Odhisa engineering student allegedly raped by six men in Jharkhand

A 20-year-old engineering student from Odisha’s Rourkela was allegedly raped by at least six men in Jharkhand’s Chakradharpur for two days before being dumped in a forest, police said on Monday.

According to the complaint lodged with Government Railway Police station in Rourkela, the woman was abducted by her brother’s friend and then raped by the men for two days in a house in Lotapahar area of Chakradharpur. The men then dumped her in a nearby forest on January 1.

Rourkela GRP superintendent of police Ajay Pratap Swain said no one has been arrested so far.

Swain said the woman was waiting for a train at the Rourkela railway station on December 30 to go to her home in Jharsuguda district. She met her brother friend, who reportedly advised her to board a particular train along with him to reach Jharsuguda.

“When the girl boarded the train along with the youth, she soon realised the train was not heading towards Jharsuguda but towards Chakradharpur. The youth then advised her to get down at Lotapahar railway station in Jharkhand and take a bus to reach Jharsuguda,” said



Swain.

“However, the youth took her to a house after both reached the station. Five other friends of the youth arrived at the house and allegedly gang-raped the girl for two days,” he said.

The woman was released by the men on January 1, following which she lodged a police complaint in this regard. She is currently undergoing treatment in a government hospital in Rourkela and her brother said she is in a critical condition.

Police said two teams have been formed to probe the incident and one has gone to Chakradharpur.

Two days ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had accused the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government in Odisha of being negligent towards the safety and security of women in the state.

Official data shows there have been 5,422 cases of rapes of minor and 671 cases of gang rape between 2014 and 2017. Only 135 people have been convicted during this period.

Union women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi in a letter to Patnaik in April last year had suggested training of police officials for faster and efficient investigation of rape cases.