Kicked, punched & tortured for 3 hrs; girl’s rape filmed by assailants: Male friend

Bhubaneswar: Recounting the harrowing ordeal faced by him and his female friend, who was gang-raped by two men on the city outskirts on Dec 10, the 17-year-old boy said, “The assailants tortured us for three hours and mercilessly assaulted us before filming the sexual assault on my friend.

”According to his statement, the teenagers were returning home on a bike around 6:30 pm when two men chased them on another bike and intercepted them on a canal road. The attackers snatched his bike’s key and began molesting the girl, demanding money and searching their belongings. “When they found no cash with us, they took my gold ring and her silver ring,” he said.The boy was then beaten and dragged aside, held hostage by one of the assailants while the other sexually assaulted the girl.

The attackers allegedly took turns to assault her and subjected both victims to brutal violence until 9:30 pm.“They kicked and punched me repeatedly, leaving me seriously injured. The girl was also beaten. We begged for mercy, but they did not stop. Their torture continued for three hours,” he said.One of the accused reportedly filmed the assault and threatened to circulate the video on social media if they approached police.

“I fear that they might circulate the video. Police should take action,” he said.Police said the girl’s mother initially lodged a complaint on Dec 11, reporting only robbery. “She alleged that two unidentified men assaulted her daughter and her friend before stealing 20g of gold and 5g of silver. Based on the complaint, we registered a robbery case,” DCP Jagmohan Meena stated. On Dec 13, the survivor and her mother disclosed details of the sexual assault, leading police to add charges of gang rape against the accused.“We have arrested two men directly involved in the sexual violence. However, we suspect two or three others may have assisted them,” DCP Meena added.A team of State Commission for Women (SCW) visited the crime scene on Tuesday and discussed with police about the progress of investigation. “The govt has taken a serious note of the crime and directed police to arrest all those involved. The survivor is recuperating,” said Urmila Mohapatra, an SCW member.