Click to play videoNew Delhi: A 27-year-old tourist visiting Orissa's famous Konark temple was allegedly pulled off a crowded bus by four men, taken to an isolated spot and gang-raped.
The incident occurred on Sunday, barely 10 km from the Sun Temple. The accused - reportedly loan recovery agents of a finance company - followed the tourist while she boarded a bus, dragged her out and made her board another bus before gang-raping her on the Puri-Konark road stretch.
Incidentally, a person saw the accused taking the victim to the cashew plantation and informed the Konark police station that he suspected foul play. The police later found the woman unconscious in the bus.
DIG (Bhubaneshwar), Y B Khurania, told CNN-IBN a case of rape has been registered. “A case of gang-rape has been registered. The accused have been arrested and will be produced in court tomorrow. The victim has undergone medical examination, is being counselled and being taken care of. The victim is a local, she's a resident of Puri. She was travelling to the Konark temple when two men took her off the bus and took her to a cashew plantation where she was raped. Two other men joined her. Passengers did not protest but one person who saw the girl being taken informed the police,” he said.
All the accused - identified as Santosh Sahu, Prakash Pradhan, Gourang Pradhan and R Das - were arrested on Monday.
Shockingly, none of her co-passengers, the bus driver or the conductor came to her rescue when the accused dragged her out. News reports suggest the woman was traveling with her 60-year-old uncle T Nanda, the only one who tried to save her.
Police say the accused persons had seen the two at Konark and even spoken to the victim. When Nanda and the woman boarded a bus to return to Puri, two of the accused followed them on board, while the other two followed on a bike.
According to her statement, the accused used obscene language when they first met her at the temple site.
The Statesman reports the victim had been raped at two separate spots and the accused apprehended because Konark police rushed to one of these spots and was able to catch one of the accused.
Medical examination of the victim confirmed rape. However, the accused say that it was not a case of rape as the victim had consented to the act.
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