Molestation video of Odisha college girl: 2 more arrested

Bargarh: The Odisha police today arrested two more persons in connection with molesting a college girl in Bargarh district and recording the entire scene and later making the video viral on social media.

The two, identified as Jitu Behera and Murali Barik, were arrested from Bukuramunda under Paikmal police limits. With this, the number of arrests in the case rose to eight.

Cops had yesterday arrested six accused– Umakanta Bhoi, Jai Prakash Bhoi, Ajit Barik, Hutasen Hati, Sahil Barik and Nutan Barik– from the same place for their alleged involvement in the incident.

According to police sources, two teams have been formed to conduct raids at various places to arrest the culprits. Police suspect that more than 15 persons were involved in the incident.

The video, believed to have been shot in October, shows a group of men chasing, molesting and harassing a college student, who is in her uniform, despite her repeated pleas to spare her.

The men were also seen hurling abuses at the girl who was running on the road to escape from the clutches of the mob.

Soon after media highlighted the incident, Bargarh police woke up and swung into action. Based on the video, a case was registered at Paikmal police station under sections 341, 354, 354 B and 34 of IPC and sections 66 A, 66 E and 67 of IT Act.

Worth mentioning, Odisha Police DG RP Sharma on November 22 had issued an advisory to all the district SPs and public to check circulation of such videos on the internet after series of obscene videos from different parts of the state went viral.

Besides, the top cop had also requested the general public and media about dos and don’ts regarding the viral videos besides urging them to help the law enforcement agencies.