Odisha: Five Arrested For Raping 17-Year-Old Girl in Ganjam District

Berhampur: Five engineering and pharmacy students have been arrested for allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl in Odisha's Ganjam district, police said on Wednesday.

The incident took place in Baidyanathpur police station area in Berhampur town on May 3 after one of the accused, who was an acquaintance of the girl, took her to his house upon finding her waiting on the road for her father to pick her up, and he offered her a sedative-laced drink, a police officer said.

As the girl became dizzy after consuming the drink, he called his other friends, who stayed together at a mess and studied in various pharmaceutical and engineering colleges in the city, and they took turns to rape her, Berhampur Superintendent of Police Sarthak Sarangi said, adding they later dropped her to another spot and threatened her not to disclose the incident to anyone.

However, she informed her parents about the incident and they lodged an FIR on May 5, following which the accused were nabbed and medical tests of them and the survivor were conducted, he said.

"Cases under different sections of the Indian Penal Code and POCSO Act have been registered against the accused and further investigation is underway," he said, adding a manhunt has been launched to nab another absconding accused. 

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