A 22-year-old’s gangrape in Mayurbhanj has intensified scrutiny of Odisha’s worsening record on women’s safety.
Police said the 22-year-old survivor was lured on Friday evening by two acquaintances from Bangiriposi on the promise of discussing a job. She was driven nearly 80 kilometres to Udala, where three others joined them.
The five men then allegedly raped her at a secluded spot on the Udala–Balasore road before abandoning her on the roadside.
A case has been registered at Udala police station. “So far two persons have been detained, and search is on for three others,” said Hrushikesh Nayak, sub-divisional police officer of Udala.
The assault adds to a grim tally of cases that have shaken Odisha in recent months.
On 6 August in Kendrapara, a college student died by self-immolation after her ex-boyfriend allegedly threatened to leak intimate photos. Her father accused police of refusing to register a complaint.
On 12 July, a student at FM College in Balasore died after setting herself ablaze, having accused a professor of sexual harassment. Hours later in Puri’s Balanga village, three men allegedly molested a young woman, gagged her and set her on fire with petrol. She survived but sustained 75 per cent burns.
Several other cases have also stoked outrage: an 18-year-old kidnapped and raped in Jagatsinghpur while returning from a birthday party; a minor girl in Malkangiri abducted the same night and found with a truck driver; and three men, including a hockey coach, arrested in Jajpur on 3 July for allegedly raping a 15-year-old trainee.
On July 22, former chief minister Naveen Patnaik, now in opposition, branded the pattern a “disturbing wave of crimes against women” under BJP rule.
“Both in cities and villages, the streets have become increasingly unsafe for women—in broad daylight and night.” Patnaik wrote on X.
He alleged that political interference had eroded police accountability.
Odisha Police insisted it was acting within the law. “People have the right to criticise the police and its actions. But we are working according to the rule of law as mandated by the Constitution. We are committed to providing seva (service) and surakshya (safety) to the people,” said Sanjay Kumar, additional director-general of police (law and order), on 9 August in Bhubaneswar.
