Woman Sets Herself On Fire Near Court, Wants Man Who Raped Her Arrested

A 30-year-old woman, who was allegedly raped multiple times, tried to set herself on fire at a court complex in Odisha's Ganjam district on Friday, seeking justice, but was rescued by an alert officer, police said.

The incident happened at the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) court in Berhampur, they said.

Constable Rashmi Ranjan Das, who was on security duty at the spot, rescued the woman immediately after she poured kerosene on herself, they added.

The woman was briefly detained at the BN Pur police station, and was let go after questioning, police said.

The woman, who is married, alleged that she was first raped in October of last year. After that, the accused was arrested. However, after being released on bail, he allegedly raped her again along with a friend on November 14 this year.

The accused man was arrested again, but the woman was seeking the arrest of his friend, and his mother who was guarding the house when they were allegedly raping her, police said.

The woman's husband lives in Hyderabad for livelihood. He used to send her money through the accused man's bank account, they said.

On Monday, a 51-year-old man named in at least four criminal cases threatened SDJM Prangya Paramita Parihari with a knife in the court.

Lawyers rescued the judge and handed the accused to police.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)