In a major development on Sunday (20th July), the police arrested Udit Pradhan, the President of the Odisha unit of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), in connection with a rape case.
For the unversed, NSUI is the student wing of the Indian National Congress (INC) party. According to reports, the accused raped a 19-year-old engineering student inside a hotel room in Bhubaneswar.
Udit Pradhan invited the victim for dinner and then spiked her drink. After the girl lost consciousness, the student leader of the Congress party reportedly raped the victim.
The incident occurred on 18th March this year. The victim filed a complaint with the Mancheswar Police on Sunday (20th July), leading to the prompt arrest of the politically influential Udit Pradhan.
It has now come to light that the accused threatened the 19-year-old with dire consequences if she dared to file a complaint with the police.
The development comes days after a 2nd-year student named Soumyashree set herself on fire over the college’s inaction against sexual and mental harassment by an Assistant Professor named Samira Kumar Sahoo.
Udit Pradhan wanted to ‘save Constitution’
The rape accused had uploaded several posters on social media, vowing to ‘protect the Indian Constitution’ from the BJP government in Odisha and at the Centre.
Rape accused spotted with Rahul Gandhi, celebrated win of Priyanka Gandhi
Udit Pradhan was spotted alongside Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in one of his Instagram posts.
He was also seen celebrating the victory of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Wayanad in November 2024.
Udit Pradhan also posted on social media about Congress leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Manmohan Singh.
ସ୍ବାଧୂନ ଭାରତର ପ୍ରଥମ ପ୍ରଧାନମନ୍ତ୍ରୀ ଜବାହାରଲାଲ ନେହେରୁଙ୍କ ଶ୍ରାଦ୍ଧ ଦିବସରେ ଭକ୍ତିପୂତ ଶ୍ରଦ୍ଧାଞ୍ଜଳି । pic.twitter.com/qfHXfS4JOz
— Udit Pradhan (@UditPradhanINC) May 27, 2025
Activism for women
Ironically, the rape accused was primarily seen demonstrating for the protection of women in Odisha and participated in protests demanding their safety and security.
He had also posted in support of Soumyashree, who took her own life over inaction against sexual and mental harassment. On Sunday (20th July), Udit Pradhan was arrested for raping 19-year-old student.
Active member of Congress
In his capacity as NSUI President of Odisha, Udit Pradhan was actively involved in the political activities of the student wing of the Congress party.
Today their is an interview held at bbsr congress bhavan for the selection of Puri dist nsui president and all assembly president's of Puri dist.#NSUI#NSUI_ODISHA #NSUI_ORGANISATION pic.twitter.com/FvmQGKRBqE
— Udit Pradhan (@UditPradhanINC) November 3, 2024
The rape accused has 5.6K followers on Facebook and 15.8K followers on Instagram.
