Three youths were arrested on Thursday for attempting to rape a woman at a lonely place near the Biju Patnaik International Airport here on Wednesday evening after sedating her.
The accused were identified as lingaraj Dalai (20) of Brahmapur in Ganjam district, Jitendra Behera (24) of Daspalla area in Nayagarh district, both staying in Unit-6 near Capital Hospital, and Subashis Pattnaik (25) of Baidyanathpatna of Kanas in Puri district staying at Ganganagar under the Capital police station here.
After reviewing the report of medical examination of the woman on Thursday, the accused were booked under Sections 354, 328 and 34 of IPC and forwarded to court, said Mahila police station Inspector-in-Charge Sarojini Nayak.
The arrested youths sedated and attempted to rape the 35-year-old woman from Visakhapatnam. On a tip-off, members of the State Progressive Women’s Forum rescued the victim, mother of two girls, in an unconscious state and nabbed a youth, who was hiding behind bushes near the airport terminal.
The victim’s brother-in-law M Ganesh said the woman had come to the city to meet her elder sister. She was suffering from fever, and on the way, an auto-rickshaw driver offered her some ‘N 10’ medicine. After taking the medicine, she became unconscious. A group of youths took her near the airport and tried to outrage her modesty, but she opposed them, raising an alarm.
The woman handed over the medicine strips to the police. Investigation into the matter is on, said the police.