3 girls gang-raped in Odisha’s Kalahandi while returning home after watching jatra

Bhawanipatna, Apr 20 (PTI) Three girls were allegedly gang-raped in Odisha’s Kalahandi district when they were returning home after watching a jatra, police said on Thursday.
The incident happened on the night of April 16, but a complaint was filed at the Bijepur police station on Wednesday night after the families of the girls came to know about it, they said.
The girls were returning home after watching a jatra or folk theatre when five men stopped them, and allegedly took turns in raping them, police said.
An investigation is underway to identify the accused, and they will be caught soon, Bijepur police station’s inspector-in-charge Lingaraj Sethy said
The area has a significant Maoist presence, and the terrain is hilly and has forests, he said.
The girls initially hesitated to tell their families about the incident, but after their parents came to know about it, they filed a police complaint.
The girls were taken to the Bhawanipatna Government Hospital for medical examination on Thursday, police said.