Odisha: Burglars gang-rape woman after looting her ornaments in Bhubaneswar apartment
Lack of CCTV camera footage at the building has complicated the investigation. Odisha Police has detained two persons over the crime so far.
Arpit Pattnaik
Two burglars looted ornaments in an apartment in Odisha's Bhubaneswar at knifepoint on Monday and then gangraped a 27-year-old woman occupant, news agency PTI reported.
The crime took place around 2am on September 30 in Bhubaneswar's Maitri Vihar. According to the complaint lodged with the police, the burglars first looted her ornaments and mobile phone at knife-point and later gangraped the women by threatening to kill her 2-year-old daughter if she screamed for help.
Police said the woman worked for a private hospital in Bhubaneswar and had moved into the flat just 10 days ago. They also suspect that the burglars might have accessed the building using bamboo poles to reach the house.
Officials said two persons have been detained in connection with the crime and further investigations are underway. A case of rape and loot has been registered. Lack of CCTV cameras in the building has made investigation difficult and the police are examining footage from nearby areas.
Man sentenced to death
In an unrelated case, a POCSO court in Odisha's Sambalpur sentenced a man to death for rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl in 2022. The court ordered the victim to be hanged till death and also imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh.
The man had abducted the girl from the fields and raped her. Later, he beheaded the girl and returned to his villager with her head which led to a scuffle with his wife and the crime came to light.
Rape cases in Odisha
According to a White paper recently tabled in the state assembly, Odisha saw a marginal dip in rape cases in 2023 in comparison to data from 2022. The state recorded 2,826 rape cases in 2023 while 3,184 rapes were reported in 2022.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) also reported 82,132 complaints of uploading child sexual abuse material from IP addresses located in Odisha to the state government.
