A 17-year-old girl from India was kidnapped, brought to a farm and gang-raped for 22 days before the authorities were able to rescue her.
The girl, who remains unidentified, had run away from home in Jagatsinghpur district last month after a fight with her father.
She was staying with her older sister and brother-in-law in Cuttack, but was asked to go home as the couple started fighting over her stay.
The girl then went at the OMP Square and waited for a bus when the suspect, Santosh Behera, offered her a ride and promised to drop her home on his motorcycle.
However, Behera brought her straight to a poultry farm in the Gatiroutpatna village owned by his friend, known only as Rakesh, where she was held captive and repeatedly raped by the two men.
The men also allegedly captured the horrific incident on video, and threated the poor girl to not disclose the matter to anyone.
Some locals suspected illegal activities at the farm, prompting them to tip the police that led to the authorities to conduct a raid on the property.
“A police team has been formed to apprehend the friend of the accused,” Cuttack city Deputy Commissioner of Police Prateek Singh said in an interview.
The girl was rescued during the raid, and was found in poor physical condition and showed signs that she is psychologically scarred.
She was presented to the district Child Welfare Committee (CWC), and later on sent to an orphanage.
The incident drew criticism for several parties opposed to India’s Bharatiya Janata Party, prompting the Congress to launch an attack against the government in the state.
Congress spokesperson Nishikant Mishra called out the state, stressing that the gang-rape proves how the women in the area are not safe and secure at all.
She demanded that the family be compensated and given ₹ 25 lakh ($34,000), and that the incident be investigated by the crime branch.