Bhubaneswar: A 31-year-old woman, who was visiting her uncle in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, was allegedly gang-raped by three men at a deserted roadside restaurant on Tuesday night. The police have arrested one of the accused, while the others are absconding. The woman was on her way back from her friend’s house when two men on a motorcycle offered her a drop home (Representative photo)

The woman was on her way back from her friend’s house when two men on a motorcycle offered her a drop home. “The youths then took her to a deserted dhaba (roadside restaurant) where another associate joined them and they allegedly raped her,” Karanjia police station inspector-in-charge Sarat Chandra Mahalik said.

The police said her family members rescued her from the spot later. The woman’s family lodged an FIR on Wednesday evening.

Multiple cases of sexual violence have been reported in Odisha in the last two weeks. A 20-year-old college student was gang-raped by 10 men on Gopalpur sea beach in Ganjam district on June 15. A 17-year-old girl from Keonjhar was allegedly gang-raped and killed on June 16. Similarly, on the night of June 22, a 22-year-old student from New Delhi and her 20-year-old friend were allegedly molested and attacked by two men in Jajpur district when they were returning to their village after visiting a temple. The woman from Delhi had travelled to Jajpur to attend the first death anniversary of her friend’s father. On June 23, a fake homeopathic doctor in Berhampur town sexually assaulted a minor girl, promising her admission to a nursing college.

As per the white paper on crimes released by the state home department in March this year, Odisha saw an 8% rise in the number of rape cases in 2024 compared to 2023.

Amid the rise in crimes against women, the opposition in Odisha attacked the Mohan Charan Majhi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has called for an ‘All Odisha Students’ Strike’ on June 25. “This inhuman act has tarnished the reputation of the internationally renowned Gopalpur beach,” BJD chief Naveen Patnaik wrote on X. Veteran BJD leader Pramilla Mallick had highlighted government data — 3,054 rape cases reported in Odisha over the past year — in the Assembly.

Chief minister Mohan Majhi said that strict and exemplary action would be taken against all the perpetrators, and the trial would be held in fast-track courts.

Meanwhile, the Congress has sent a five-member all-women team, led by All India Congress Committee general secretary Deepa Dasmunshi, to investigate the rising crimes against women.