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Odisha teen’s uncle arrested for her gang rape, four others being grilled: Cops
A man in Odisha was arrested for raping his Class 10 niece, along with four accomplices. The case highlights rising sexual assaults in the state.
A man has been arrested in Odisha’s Kendrapara district on charges that he raped his niece, a Class 10 student, along with four other accomplices, police said on Tuesday.
The teenager filed a rape case against her uncle on Monday evening, two days after she was raped. The girl told the police that she contemplated suicide but was encouraged to file a police complaint against her uncle by another relative.
Kendrapara superintendent of police (SP) Siddharth Kataria said the incident took place on Saturday evening when the girl was at home.
“The girl asked him to drop her at a nearby temple where some of her friends were waiting. But instead of taking her to the temple, the uncle took her to a desolate place and raped her. Then four others also joined him and sexually assaulted her,” Kataria said
A case has been registered under sections 70(2) (gang rape), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt) and 351 (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
Kataria said the girl’s uncle has been arrested while the four others are being interrogated about their respective role in the gang rape.
“The complainant and the accused persons have been medically examined, and the statement of the victim has been recorded,” he added.
The fresh case comes against the backdrop of a string of sexual assault cases over the past few months, prompting the Opposition to claim a breakdown of law and order machinery in the state.
In a memorandum to the Odisha governor Hari Babu Kambhampati on July 24, the Opposition said 18,000 crimes against women had been reported in Odisha between January and August this year and demanded setting up of a commission headed by a sitting woman judge of Orissa High Court or a retired woman judge to probe crimes against women, institutional failures and submit a report with actionable recommendations within 60 days.
The Opposition also alleged that with over 11,000 cases pending before Odisha state women’s commission, and asked the government to take steps to raise Odisha’s conviction rate from 8.3% to the national average of 26.6%.
“In view of the Supreme Court’s observation on the state’s persistent institutional failures, it is clear that the Odisha government has lost its moral authority to govern. Continued inaction has deepened the crisis and left women and girls vulnerable across the state,” the July 24 memorandum said.
