College girl raped in Bhubaneswar hotel; Congress student leader arrested

A leader of the Congress party’s students wing was arrested in Odisha in connection with the alleged rape of a 19-year-old girl in Bhubaneswar.

Udit Pradhan, the Odisha unit president of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), was arrested on Sunday based on the girl’s complaint.

According to reports, the incident took place on March 18 but came to light on Sunday after the girl—an engineering student—approached the Mancheswar Police Station.

In her complaint, the girl alleged that Pradhan mixed an intoxicating substance in her drinks and raped her in a hotel in the capital city.

The girl also accused the NSUI leader of threatening her with dire consequences if she disclosed the alleged incident.

"The accused has been booked under various provisions, including rape and criminal intimidation, of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita," a police officer told PTI news agency.

Meanwhile, NSUI national president Varun Choudhary issued a statement, saying Pradhan has been suspended from his position with immediate effect.

“NSUI maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards gender-based injustice and is unwavering in its commitment to accountability and justice,” he said.

The move, however, didn’t stop the BJP from launching a scathing attack on the opposition party.

“Shameful but not surprising,” BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya said in a post on X.

Malviya raked up the Balasore sexual assault case and alleged that the student leaders of both Congress and BJD were complicit in driving the victim to suicide through a vile campaign of character assassination.

"How long will these parties shield predators in their ranks? How many more young women must suffer before there is accountability?Silence is complicity,” he further said.