Couple assaulted in Odisha's Dhenkanal; two detained after video surfaces

A young couple were harassed and assaulted by a group in Odisha's Dhenkanal district while they were returning on a motorcycle from a popular tourist and religious site, police said, with two people detained after a video of the incident surfaced on social media on Tuesday.

Dhenkanal Superintendent of Police Abhinav Sonkar said an FIR has been registered and an investigation launched. "We have detained two people and will arrest them soon. We are verifying the involvement of others," he said.

According to a police officer, four people from nearby Cuttack district, including the couple, had visited the site on two motorcycles. On the way back, someone from the group got into an argument with a local youth. The local youth is then alleged to have called several members of his family, who chased the couple and assaulted them. Both people detained by police belong to the same family.

"We are verifying the exact circumstances that led to the confrontation," the officer said, adding that police are also trying to establish exactly when the incident took place.

The couple are said to have pleaded with the attackers to let them go, but the group allegedly continued to assault and harass them. Someone in the crowd recorded the episode on a mobile phone and uploaded it to social media, which brought the matter to light.

The couple filed a zero FIR, which has since been forwarded to the Gondia police station, where a case has been registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including molestation and using criminal force against a woman, as well as provisions of the Information Technology Act.

The incident comes amid heightened attention to similar cases, including one in Bihar's Jamui where two teenagers were targeted — a boy was assaulted and a girl was molested by a group of men.