Bhubaneswar, Oct. 30: A 35-year-old married woman alleged that an autorickshaw driver and four of his friends had drugged and molested her on the new airport road this afternoon.

Mahila police detained one accused in connection with the case. The victim’s brother-in-law said the woman, mother of two girls, was a resident of Vishakhapatnam. She hired an auto to drive her to her sister’s house. On the way, the auto driver gave her some tablets, which was later found to be of psychotropic substance.

“The auto driver, instead of taking her to Unit-I, drove her to new airport road, and in between, called four of his friends over phone. While they were attempting to molest her, a few local women noticed it and came to her rescue,” said Rao.

They found that the woman was heavily drugged and the youths were trying to molest her.

They called Airfield police, who took the woman to hospital. The local people managed to capture one of the youths, while others fled.

The case was handed over to Mahila police, who obtained a written complaint from the woman. “We are questioning the woman to know what exactly had happened. Besides, we are also quizzing the detained youth,” said inspector in charge of Mahila police station Sarojini Nayak.