Cuttack Police detain six in rape, blackmail case involving college student

Six people, including a minor, have been arrested by the Cuttak police in Odisha for allegedly raping a college student multiple times and using her obscene videos to blackmail. According to the police, one of the individuals who was arrested was the boyfriend of the college student.

The Cuttack Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Jagmohan Meena, said that a complaint was filed in one of the city's police stations on Nov 4.

A case was then filed against the six accused under various sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the Information Technology Act, and for sexual assault, intimidation, and abetment.

“According to the FIR, the accused had got some obscene videos of the victim, and they started blackmailing her by showing the videos. Two different people allegedly sexually assaulted the victim on two different dates. Two more people were involved in intimidation and abetment,” said Meena on Nov 8.

According to Meena, the police detained the six suspects on two separate occasions and confiscated their cell phones, which would be forwarded to the State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL) for additional examination and to prevent the videos from being shared further.

The complaint alleged that the victim celebrated her birthday during the Dussehra festival by going to a cafe in Cuttack with her boyfriend. According to reports, the cafe proprietor used his cell phone to record some of their private moments.

The woman was repeatedly raped by the accused, who used those private tapes to blackmail.

Following the woman's complaint, the police organized a special team to investigate and swiftly arrested the accused, according to a police official.

On Nov 9, Cuttack-Barabati Congress MLA Sofia Firdous claimed that despite the victim having already contacted the police, there had been a delay in filing a formal complaint about the crime. At the police headquarters, Sofia met with Director General of Police Y B Khurania and requested an investigation into the matter.

“My question is whether the victim had earlier approached the police in two stations? If she had gone there to lodge a complaint, who was on duty? Whether the CCTV records are there or not? Why was her complaint not registered earlier? I need a detailed probe into the incident,” asked Sofia.

The Cuttack-Barabati MLA also asked the DGP to take action to protect the victim's family.