The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognizance of media reports highlighting the incident of 20-year-old female college student being allegedly subjected to gang rape by around 10 men on the Gopalpur sea beach of Ganjam District in Odisha on June 15 this year.

The victim had reportedly gone to the beach along with a male friend to celebrate a festival when a group of perpetrators sexually assaulted her after overpowering her friend.

What NHRC says

The Commission has observed that the incident “raises a serious issue of violation of human rights.” Therefore, it has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police, Odisha, calling for a detailed report on the matter within two weeks.

The NHRC has stated that the report should include the status of the investigation in the case, the victim’s health, compensation and counselling, if any, provided to her by the state authorities.

Gopalpur beach gangrape

On June 15, a 20-year-old college student was allegedly gang-raped at Gopalpur beach of Odisha’s Ganjam district. The victim is an undergraduate student residing in Berhampur. She visited the popular tourist spot with a male classmate to celebrate the Raja festival.

The pair was at a secluded part of the beach when they were confronted by a group of approximately 10 men, who arrived on three motorcycles. The male friend of the victim was restrained by the attackers. The miscreants allegedly overpowered the male friend, tied his hands, and dragged him away and forcibly took the woman to a nearby abandoned house where three of them raped her.

The victim and her friend filed a police complaint at Gopalpur police station on the following day. A case was immediately registered under Section 70 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which addresses the offense of gang-rape. The victim was immediately sent to the MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur for medical examination while the police detained seven suspects in the case.