• Source:JND
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Six people, including a minor, were arrested by Cuttack police in Odisha for allegedly raping a 19-year-old college student several times by blackmailing her with her recorded obscene videos. The woman lodged a complaint with the Badambadi police station in Cuttack in which she accused six people, including her boyfriend, of raping her. 

Jagmohan Meena, Cuttack Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), said that a complaint was reported by the victim on November 4. He further said that a case was registered under different sections for sexual assault, intimidation, abetment and under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Information Technology Act against the six accused.

“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,” Meena was quoted as saying by the Indian Express. 

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He further informed that the police seized the mobile phones of the accused, which will be sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL) for further investigation. The victim told police that she went to a cafe within Purighat Police Station limits in Cuttack during the Dussehra festival to celebrate her birthday. She claimed that her boyfriend, allegedly with the help of the cafe owner, captured in his phone some of their intimate moments. They allegedly blackmailed the victim by showing her those videos and raped her several times. 

Besides, a political row erupted on the issue as Cuttack-Barabati Congress MLA Sofia Firdous on Saturday alleged that there was a delay in lodging an FIR in the incident even though the victim had earlier approached the police.

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“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,” Sofia was quoted as saying by the Indian Express. Later, Sofia met Director General of Police Y B Khurania and sought his intervention to ensure the safety of the victim’s family.