The gang rape of a 19-year-old college student in Cuttack city has triggered statewide outrage with the perpetrators of the crime capturing the obscene act in mobile phones to blackmail the rape victim.

Meanwhile, Odisha Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan, expressing deep anguish over the incident, reiterated the government’s zero-tolerance policy towards crime against women.

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Acting on the complaint of the rape survivor, the city police have arrested six persons, including a juvenile, for allegedly raping the college student for several days and videographing the act.

The arrested persons also included the victim’s boyfriend. According to the complaint, the victim had gone to a cafe within Purighat Police Station limits in the city during the Dussehra festival to celebrate her birthday, and her boyfriend, allegedly with help of the cafe owner, captured some of their obscene acts on the phone.

The intimate videos captured by the arrested persons were used as instruments to blackmail the victim to seek further sexual favour. The mobile handsets used for capturing obscene videos were seized from the possession of the accused persons and were sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory in Bhubaneswar for examination, the officer added.

Meanwhile, the café, where the victim was gang-raped, has been sealed by police.