A harrowing series of events in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district has left a 23-year-old woman dead after she was reportedly raped twice in a single day and then thrown from a rooftop. The case, which unfolded on 22 February, has sparked national outrage and a fierce political row over the safety of women in the state.
The victim’s ordeal began when she left home to meet her boyfriend, who had allegedly lured her to a local temple with the promise of marriage. Police reports suggest that instead of a wedding, he took her to a secluded spot where he raped her before abandoning her at the Rahama bus stand.
While stranded and distressed at the bus station, the woman was approached by a stranger on a motorcycle. The man, a labourer from Jharkhand living in Paradip, reportedly offered to help her.
Instead, police say he abducted her and took her to the roof of his rented accommodation. There, she was raped for a second time. In a final act of brutality, the assailant allegedly pushed her from the four-storey building to her death. Her body was discovered by locals the following morning.
The victim's family had initially raised the alarm on the evening of the disappearance.
February 22: Victim reported missing by her brother.
February 23: Body discovered; police initially file an "unnatural death" report.
February 25: Formal complaint of kidnap, rape, and murder lodged following forensic leads.
Both the boyfriend and the stranger have been arrested and booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The sheer depravity of the crime has drawn a blistering response from the Leader of the Opposition and BJD president, Naveen Patnaik. Taking to social media, the former Chief Minister questioned the state’s ability to protect its citizens.
"How many more innocent lives will be lost? No one, including minors, is safe," Patnaik wrote on X. He pointed to a string of recent "disturbing misdeeds" in Angul, Sambalpur, and Paradip, suggesting a widening chasm between government rhetoric on safety and the grim reality on the streets.
Patnaik argued that a perceived "failure to take strict action" has emboldened offenders, and he has called for an immediate overhaul of how women's safety is managed in Odisha.
The state government is now under immense pressure to ensure a fast-track trial for both suspects to prevent further civil unrest.
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