17-year-old Bihar girl allegedly gang-raped in Bhubaneswar, in critical condition: Police

According to the police, the girl was found lying unconscious with multiple injuries on the roadside near the Ashoknagar area of Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: A 17-year-old girl from Bihar was allegedly gang-raped in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar late Friday night. The girl was rescued and admitted to Capital Hospital by a group of autorickshaw drivers, police said.

The survivor’s condition remains critical. She is in the ICU, police said. (Representative photo)

“The survivor’s condition remains critical. She is in the ICU. CCTV footage from the area is being examined,” police commissioner S. Dev Datt Singh said.

According to the police, the girl was found lying unconscious with multiple injuries on the roadside near the Ashoknagar area of Bhubaneswar. The locals initially mistook her to be specially abled. Later, a group of autorickshaw drivers noticed her and shifted her to Capital Hospital.

The hospital authorities said the girl was brutally assaulted and was in a state of trauma. “She was unable to speak clearly but managed to indicate that she was from Bihar,” a hospital official, requesting anonymity, said.

The hospital authorities alerted the police. “A case was registered and efforts are on to identify and arrest the culprits. Her identity is also being verified,” Singh said.

As per police records, the crime rate against children in Odisha is 59.5%, based on the actual child population of 144.1 lakh (as per Census 2011). The overall chargesheet rate for such crimes stood at 41.5% in 2023, one of the lowest in the country, and the pendency percentage in court was 90.