A tribal woman travelling in an air-conditioned luxury bus was allegedly raped by helper of the vehicle while other passengers were fast asleep.
The incident took place on Sunday night when the 25-year-old victim was travelling in a private bus running from Mayurbhanj to Bhubaneswar.
"The accused bus helper has been arrested and forwarded to the court," said deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Pravin Kumar adding that the matter came to light yesterday.
The accused has been identified as Sushant Hembram.
A scientific team reached the spot and started investigation. They will give their report to the Cuttack DCP, sources said.
The victim, a native of Mayurbhanj, who works as a maid in Jagatpur area of Cuttack, had gone to her home some days ago on leave on occasion of Raja festival.
She was returning to her workplace at Jagtpur on Sunday night, police said.
The victim alleged that though she was supposed to get down at Jagatpur before Cuttack city, the accused helper did not stop the bus at her destination. She was forcefully taken to Badambadi bus stand, she added.
The tribal woman instead of returning to Jagatpur mistakenly boarded a Jagatsinghpur bound bus and got down at Gatiroutpatana where she narrated her ordeal to some locals.
Later, the people took her to the Mahila police station.
