Cuttack:

Six people, including a minor, were arrested for allegedly raping a 19-year-old college student several times and videographing the act in Odisha’s Cuttack district, police said on Friday.

The woman lodged a complaint with the Badambadi police station in Cuttack, alleging that the accused people, including her boyfriend, raped her.

The college student claimed that she had gone to a cafe within Purighat Police Station limits in Cuttack during the Dussehra festival to celebrate her birthday, and her boyfriend, allegedly with help of the cafe owner, captured in his phone some of their intimate moments there.

They blackmailed the woman by showing her those intimate videos and raped her several times, Cuttack DCP Jagmohan Meena told reporters.

Based on the complaint lodged on November 4, the boyfriend of the woman, the cafe owner, a boy and three others were arrested during the next two days, he said.

They have been booked under various sections of the BNS, IT Act and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The police also recovered the videos from their mobile phones which were sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory in Bhubaneswar for examination, the officer added.

Meena said in a press conference thatthe accused persons have sexually assaulted the victim twice.

The DCP appealed to any woman, who is being blackmailed, to come forward and lodge a complaint without any fear and hesitation.

Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan in Bhubaneswar said that the government will ensure that the culprits are punished.

“The government will take very strong action in Cutatck gang rape case. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on various occasions directed the police to take stringent action against people involved in crimes against women,” the minister said.

Efforts are on to declare Odisha a crime free state for women by 2036, the minister said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Baripada:

Two police personnel of Jamda in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district were arrested by officers of the same police station in connection with two rape cases. The arrested are an assistant sub-inspector of police and a home guard, said Minati Naik, the officer in-charge, Jamda police station.

The ASI was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor girl who worked as a domestic help in his house. The home guard was arrested on Monday for allegedly raping a minor girl from Jharkhand, she said.

Both of them were arrested under POCSO and forwarded the two men to the court dealing with cases related to the act.

Ms Naik said the ASI engaged the minor girl to take care of his three children after the death of his wife. The minor girl’s aunt recently filed a complaint at the Jamda police station alleging that he had developed sexual relations with the girl promising to marry her.

The police arrested the ASI after recording the victim’s statement. A medical examination of the accused was conducted.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)