Balasore, June 15: A 22-year-old married woman has accused one of her distantly related brother-in-law of raping her at Hatasahi village in Nilgiri on June 3. The accused Asish Mishra, 27, is absconding.

The victim alleged that the accused, who also happens to be her neighbour, sought her help saying that his mother was serious and undergoing treatment at the Balasore district hospital.

She agreed to accompany him in a car with her three-month-old baby. She also said that in the hurry she did not even inform her husband and other members of the family before embarking on the trip.

She realised the intention of the accused when she found that the vehicle instead of moving towards the district hospital took the road towards Bhubaneswar. There were two others in the vehicle.

The woman alleged that the two unknown persons had threatened her with a knife. After a while, she was drugged and lost sense. Later, she found herself in a room at an unknown place and realised that she had been raped.

The sub-divisional police officer, Nilgiri, S.R. Mahapatra said: “ A case under section 376 of the IPC has been registered and the accused is absconding”.

“The medical examination of the victim is in progress. It seems that the victim and accused are relatives and were having close relationship. However, the case is being probed,” he said.

The police said that the victim was missing from her house with her minor son. Her husband and in-laws made a frantic search to trace her. But in the evening, they got to know that the woman was in Cuttack in the house of the accused person's maternal uncle. The family members brought her and her son to Nilgiri. There was a series of meetings over the issue in the village.

The inspector-in-charge of Nilgiri Kartik Mallick said: “The maternal uncle of the accused had informed them about the location of the victim. The victim has lodged the complaint with the police on Saturday.”