A 19-year-old college student was allegedly gang-raped by a group of youths in a casuarina grove near a beach in Odisha’s Puri district, police said Monday.
The incident, which occurred on Saturday evening about 20 kilometers from Puri town, has led to the arrest of two suspects, while one more has been detained. Police said additional individuals are believed to be involved and a search operation is underway.
According to the complaint, the woman had gone to the beach with a male friend when several local youths allegedly began filming and photographing them on their mobile phones. When the couple objected, the group attacked them, police said.
The friend was reportedly beaten and tied up, while the assailants dragged the woman into a nearby casuarina grove about 500 meters away, where she was gang-raped.
The woman lodged a complaint at the local police station two days later, on Monday evening. Puri Superintendent of Police Prateek Singh said the survivor initially hesitated to narrate the ordeal because of trauma. “After women police officers spoke to her, she gathered courage and filed a complaint. We immediately arrested two men and detained another. We suspect more people are involved and are investigating further,” Singh told reporters.
Another police official said the accused had also attempted to extort money from the couple by threatening to circulate the photographs and videos they had taken. “When the demand was resisted, the situation escalated,” the officer said.
The case has drawn comparisons to a similar crime reported in May in Odisha’s Ganjam district, where a college student was allegedly abducted from Gopalpur beach and gang-raped by a group of youths.
Puri’s beaches are popular tourist destinations and remain crowded throughout the year, though the latest survivor and her friend are both residents of the district, police said.
The incident has raised concerns about the safety of women in coastal areas of the state, with calls for stronger policing of isolated stretches near beaches.
Police said they are analyzing digital evidence and continuing raids to apprehend the remaining suspects.
