Another Odisha shocker: Congress student leader arrested for raping 19-year-old; invited for dinner, drugged her

BHUBANESWAR: The president of the Congress party's student wing in Odisha, Udit Pradhan, has been arrested in connection with an alleged rape of a 19-year-old engineering student in Bhubaneswar. The student, who recently filed a complaint, accused Pradhan—head of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) in the state—of drugging her and sexually assaulting her in a hotel room in March. She told police that Pradhan had invited her for dinner and offered a cold drink which she believes was spiked. “He will be produced in court on Monday afternoon,” said Bhubaneswar DCP Jagmohan Meena. The arrest has triggered political backlash for the Congress party, which has been vocal in criticising the ruling BJD government over rising crimes against women in Odisha.