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.)