Six individuals, including a minor, have been arrested by the Cuttak police for allegedly raping a 19-year-old college going student multiple times and for blackmailing her with videos of the heinous act, reported The Indian Express. The girl filed a complaint at the Badambadi police station in Cuttack on November 4, accusing these individuals, including her boyfriend, of raping her.
The girl in the complaint said that she had visited a cafe in the Purighat Police Station area during the Dussehra festival to celebrate her birthday. She alleged that her boyfriend, with the alleged assistance of the cafe owner, secretly recorded the intimate moments between them on his phone without her consent.
Cuttack Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Jagmohan Meena told IE that according to the FIR, after making the video, the accused started blackmailing the girl. He informed that two people had allegedly sexually assaulted her on two different occasions and two others were involved in intimidation and abetment. The case was registered under different sections for sexual assault, intimidation, abetment and under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and the Information Technology Act against the six accused.
After the complaint was filed, a special team was formed by the police to probe into the matter post which the six accused were immediately arrested on different dates. The police has already seized their mobiles which will be sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL) for further investigation and to make sure that the videos in question are not spread further.
Cuttack-Barabati Congress MLA Sofia Firdous raised concerns on Saturday over the delayed registration of an FIR in the case, despite the victim having initially approached the police. She met with Director General of Police YB Khurania at the police headquarters, urging for a thorough investigation into the incident.
Firdous questioned the response of the police, asking why the victim’s complaint had not been filed promptly despite her visits to two different police stations. She also inquired whether the CCTV footage from the locations had been reviewed and who was on duty at the time. Additionally, the MLA called for a detailed inquiry into the handling of the case and requested the DGP’s intervention to ensure the safety of the victim’s family.