Bhubaneswar: In the sexual assault case involving a 16-year-old college student in Malkangiri, police on Monday arrested a junior lecturer of the college for the crime.

Interestingly, the accused, Ajay Kumar Sutar, 45, was a witness in the case.

The survivor was allegedly sexually assaulted by three men at the college in Gobindapalli village of the district. According to the complaint filed with Maithili police station, the survivor said three men, none of them students, intercepted her, took her to a room and sexually assaulted her.

The accused also allegedly stripped her naked and video-recorded the entire incident on their mobile phones. While the incident took place on November 7, the victim has lodged a formal complaint with the Mathili police station on November 9.

The police said they had found the involvement of the junior lecturer only after his thorough interrogation.

"Though the victim changed her statement frequently, she hinted at Sutar's involvement during counselling by members of Child Welfare Committee. The lecturer tried his best to divert police attention from him," said a police officer.

The police also said the accused was trying to falsely implicate the three youths.

"The accused somehow managed to convince the victim to tell the police the names of three youths. So far, we have not found the involvement of other youths," said the police officer, adding that the accused had been working at the college since 2006. Deputy commissioner of police, Malkangiri, Manas Ranjan Barik said that further investigation in the case was on.