Three persons including a minor, who had waylaid a widow vegetable vendor from Barbil in Keonjhar district to perpetrate the rape of the victim by turn in a forested area for two days, were arrested on Monday by local police.
The victim was waylaid into a SUV near Gurudwara chowk of the mining town on Thursday by the accused trio. Later they committed the sexual assault of the woman for two days after confining her in a deserted house in a cashew orchard for almost 48 hours.
The victim had escaped from their custody in the dead of night on Friday. Following the complaint lodged by the victim, police swung into action to arrest the culprits today.
The offenders, who confessed to the crime, told the interrogating police they authored the crime in an inebriated state, police said.
The accused persons including the minor booked under section- 376 (b) of IPC, 294, 506 of IPC were later remanded to judicial custody, police concluded.