Woman gang-raped in lodge, 3 arrested

Bhubaneswar: Threepersons were arrested in connection with the gang-rape of a woman, who was a Facebook friend of one of them, in Bhubaneswar, said a police official on Sunday. The accused persons were identified as Chandan Kumar Hati alias Chandu (25), Prasanna Kumar Acharya (37) of Chasikhanda village under Biridi police station and Rajesh Kumar Das (32) under Jagatsinghpur Town police station in Jagatsinghpur district.

Police sources said the 23-year-old victim came into contact with the prime accused, Chandan, through the popular social media platform Facebook. Subsequently, the two developed a romantic relationship through their interactions on Facebook. During their frequent interactions, Chandan allegedly promised to help the victim meet a music composer and get a chance as a singer.

Chandan, in connivance with other accused persons, hatched a plan and called her to a lodge on the pretext of a photo shoot. As per the complaint lodged by the survivor’s sister, trusting the promise made by her accused boyfriend, the victim, on September 10, left her house to meet music composer. Later, the accused persons, Chandan and Prasanna, took the victim to a lodge located in Chandrasekharpur area of the city, where prime accused Chandan’s friend, Rajesh, works as a caretaker.

The victim’s sister, in her complaint, alleged that the accused persons sexually abused the woman with the help of the accused caretaker at the lodge. Based on the complaint, police started an investigation into the matter after registering a case in this regard on September 11.

“During the investigation, it came to light that the accused had lured the victim under false pretext of helping her meet a music composer. They made her consume some drug-spiked food items in the lodge. They forcibly confined her in a room of the lodge, where she was subsequently sexually abused by the accused persons. Rajesh, the caretaker of the lodge, facilitated the accused in committing the crime,” said a senior police official.

The police said following reliable information, all three accused persons were arrested on Saturday and they confessed to their crimes during interrogation. They were produced before the court which sent them to judicial custody.