The Dhenkanal district police in Odisha arrested four out of seven young men on Sunday, who are accused of raping a 22-year-old homeless woman over the past seven months. The assaults reportedly took place at an abandoned anganwadi centre where the woman lived with her father, who has mental health issues.
The woman, who was rescued and sent to a One Stop Centre on September 6 after it was discovered she was pregnant, had her case brought to attention only after human rights activist Jayanta Kumar Das filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the local police.
According to police, the accused used to force their way into the abandoned building at night when the woman's father was asleep, and sexually assaulted her until the early hours. Inspector-in-charge Deepak Kumar Lenka stated that the assaults continued even after the woman became pregnant five months ago, as per a HT report. "Her father has mental health issues and he usually sleeps by 10 pm. The youngsters used to force their way into the abandoned anganwadi centre as the door could not be bolted from inside. Then they used to sexually assault her till 2 am. The assault did not stop even when she became pregnant five months ago," Lenka said.
Following the FIR, police have arrested four of the suspects and are continuing efforts to capture the remaining three. The woman's father will be placed in an old-age home for rehabilitation.
Das, who criticised the delay in police action, claimed the woman had previously reported the abuse to the families of some suspects, but her complaints were ignored. He also accused the police of negligence and stated that the One Stop Centre should have informed the authorities sooner.
The arrest comes shortly after Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Majhi instructed the police to address women's safety more rigorously. Odisha has one of the lowest conviction rates for crimes against women in India, according to the NCRB-2022 report.