Six youths have been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old girl in Cuttack over several days, Odisha police said.

Officials said the 19-year-old student was invited by her friend to celebrate her birthday at a cafe in Purighat area during Dussehra celebrations. The youth allegedly sexually assaulted her in the cafe and the entire assault was secretly filmed by the owner of the cafe, the official added.

The accused then used the video to blackmail the girl. The girl was then sexually assaulted by the accused’s friends at a house in the Barang area, which was recorded and used to blackmail the girl.

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The entire incident came to light after the girl’s relative saw her along with the accused.

Based on the girl’s complaint, the police started an investigation and took the accused persons to court after arresting them.

They have registered a case under Section 3 of the Prevention of SC/ST Atrocities Act, Sections 70, 351 and 296 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The police also invoked Section 67(A) of the IT Act.

The police recovered the videos from the mobile phones and the devices were sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory in Bhubaneswar for examination.

The chat messages revealed that the girl was being constrained.