Servitor held in Bhubaneswar for sexually assaulting foreign tourist

Bhubaneswar: A servitor has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman tourist at the well-known Shree Lingaraj Temple here, the police said on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old accused servitor was identified as Kanan Mohapatra a.k.a. Kundu, a resident of Old Town area.

"The 28-year-old woman tourist from Sweden had come to have a darshan of Lord Lingaraj on Monday afternoon. Due to the prohibition of entry of foreigners into the shrine, the accused assured the victim to help her get a glimpse of the 11th century shrine from the Lord Curzon Mandap, an elevated viewing tower adjacent to the boundary wall of Lingaraj Temple, at the northern gate of the temple.

"Accordingly, she went with the accused towards the north gate. Meanwhile, the accused reportedly sexually assaulted the woman and also misbehaved with her at the northern gate," a police officer said.

Based on the complaint of the victim, police lodged a case against Mohapatra under sections 341, 354 and 354 (A) of the IPC and arrested him on Tuesday.

He was later presented in court, which sent him to 14-day judicial custody.