- Udit Pradhan, NSUI Odisha president, arrested for allegedly raping a 19-year-old student
- The survivor claims Pradhan drugged and sexually assaulted her in a hotel room in March
- Arrest comes at a time when the Congress is targeting the BJP government in Odisha over crimes against women.
Udit Pradhan, the president of the Congress' students' wing, National Students' Union of India in Odisha, has been arrested for allegedly raping a 19-year-old engineering student in Bhubaneswar. The survivor has alleged that Pradhan drugged her and sexually assaulted her in a hotel room in March.
The student has said in her complaint that she met two friends at Bhubaneswar's Master Canteen Chowk on March 18. They were chatting in a car when another man joined them. He introduced himself as Udit Pradhan and also told her that he is the president of the Odisha wing of NSUI.
"He sat next to me and touched me inappropriately. They then took me to a hotel, checked into a room, and started drinking. I don't drink, so I refused. Udit Pradhan offered me a glass of a cold drink. When I drank it, I started feeling dizzy and asked them to drop me home. I then passed out," she said in her complaint. "When I regained consciousness, I found Udit Pradhan lying next to me. I felt pain and realised something wrong had happened to me," the survivor said.
The students' leader's arrest comes at a time when the Congress is targeting the BJP government in Odisha over the rise in crime against women.
In a scathing attack on the Mohan Charan Manjhi government after a college student died of self-immolation while protesting sexual harassment by a faculty member, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha alleged it was nothing less than an "organised murder by the system".
"The death of a daughter fighting for justice in Odisha is nothing less than a murder by the BJP's system. That brave student raised her voice against sexual harassment - but instead of delivering justice, she was threatened, tormented, and repeatedly humiliated," he alleged in a post on X.
"Those who were supposed to protect her kept breaking her. As always, the BJP's system continued to shield the accused and forced an innocent daughter to set herself on fire," he alleged.
With the Congress students' leader's arrest in the rape case, the BJP is likely to hit back at the Opposition party.
Following Pradhan's arrest, the NSUI suspended him. "NSUI maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards gender-based injustice and is unwavering in its commitment to accountability and justice," a statement issued by NSUI's national president Varun Choudhary said.
Inputs by Dev Kumar Ghosh
