Odisha Students’ Congress president Udit Pradhan was arrested on Monday on charges of rape.
Following his arrest, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) suspended him from the party with immediate effect.
Assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Biswaranjan Senapati said: “A woman lodged a complaint of rape against Udit on Sunday. Following the investigation, we arrested him and forwarded him to court.”
“The incident occurred on March 18. But the woman only turned up at the police station on Sunday to lodge her complaint,” Senapati added.
The 19-year-old woman who brought the charges of rape is an engineering student, police said. A case has been registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) including charges of rape, administering intoxicants to commit a crime, obscene conduct and issuing threat.
The ACP said: “A woman and her male friend allegedly took this woman near Master Canteen Square, where they picked up Udit. In the vehicle, the woman came to know that Udit was the president of the Students’ Congress. Later, they went to a hotel.”
“All of them had drinks, but the girl refused to consume wine. Later, Udit allegedly offered her a cold drink laced with sedatives. The woman began feeling uneasy and complained of dizziness. She later decided to leave the hotel, but they did not allow her to do so. When she woke up, she found Udit sleeping beside her with his hand on her.”
“When the woman confronted him, Udit allegedly abused her and threatened her with dire consequences if she reported the matter to anyone,” he added.
Pradhan, however, claimed he was being framed in a conspiracy orchestrated by the BJP.
On being asked why it took the woman four months to lodge the case, the ACP said: “Seeing that a number of women are coming forward to register cases of crimes against women and are getting justice, the woman decided to seek the help of the police to punish the accused.”
However, the ACP’s explanation has not gone down well with many on the late filing of the case.
The Odisha Congress has formed a six-member committee headed by Sasmita Behera to investigate the matter.
Hockey coach detained
A district-level hockey coach and two others were detained on Monday for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor trainee earlier this month.
The incident took place on July 3, but police action followed the lodging of a complaint. The girl, who had been training at the Jajpur hockey stadium for the past two years, was allegedly picked up from the road by the coach and his associates on the pretext of taking her for practice, and was later assaulted at a lodge.
“We have detained three persons — Sarthak (the coach), Sandip and Sagar,” Jajpur town police inspector Sarat Patra told The Telegraph.
Cases have been registered under various sections of the BNS, along with Section 6 of the Pocso Act.