Beauty parlour owner rapes Odisha girl by blackmailing her with obscene photos; arrested

Bhubaneswar: The police in Kendrapara district of Odisha have arrested the owner of a beauty parlour on charges of raping a Dalit girl by blackmailing her with obscene photos.

Accused Pratap Sahu of Nilikanta village in Kendrapara has been booked under Sections 376, 328 and 384 of the IPC and relevant Sections of SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and IT Act, said Pattamundai Model Police IIC Ranjit Mohanty.

According to police, a 22-year-old girl from the Dalit community was working in Sahu’s beauty parlour at Dandisahi Bazar in Pattamundai area some days ago.

Sahu had allegedly clicked some obscene photos of the girl by providing her sedative-laced food stuffs. He later raped the girl several times by threatening her to make the photos viral on social media, they added.

Subsequently, the victim discontinued her job at Sahu’s parlour and started working at some other place in Kendrapara town. However, Sahu barged into the girl’s working place recently and once again threatened her with the obscene photos, sources said.

The girl informed the incident to her family members. Sahu allegedly hurled abuses at the girl’s family members when they confronted him. The victim lodged an FIR in this regard with Pattamundai Model Police yesterday.