Bhubaneswar: Sahid Nagar Police on Sunday arrested a marine engineer and his wife on charges of torturing a minor girl physically whom the husband and wife brought here on promise of providing education.
The arrested couple has been identified as Abinash Patra of Laxmi Vihar area in the city and his wife JS Niharika.
Police arrested the couple from Patra's father-in-law's house in Jagatsinghpur. The couple were staying in Jagatsinghpur fearing the arrest after a complaint was lodged by the parents of the minor girl at Sarat police station in Mayurbhanj district.
In the police complaint, the complainant alleged Patra and Niharika brought the minor girl of Bagdafa village in Mayurbhanj district on promise of providing education. However, they later engaged her in the household works and inflicted physical torture by branding her with hot iron if she showed reluctance.
Besides, the couple had not allowed the minor girl to contact her family members since last eight months.
Bhubaneswar DCP Satyabrata Bhoi said, “On the preliminary investigation, the arrest was done. We are probing who else is involved in bringing the minor girl to Laxmi Vihar from her home village.”