Couple brutally beaten with bamboo sticks on road in Berhampur, India.

NEWS:

A young couple was repeatedly beaten with bamboo sticks on a public road in Berhampur, Odisha, on the night of May 18, 2026, in a violent assault captured on video.

The footage records two men repeatedly striking the victims on Giri Road as people stand nearby. The male victim is attacked while on the roadway, while the woman accompanying him attempts to protect him and is also struck. Some people nearby can be seen moving toward the confrontation as the beating continues.

The couple was later identified as Umesh Rath, 23, and his fiancée, Gayatri Patra. A complaint filed the following day by Rath's mother stated that the attack occurred at about 00:8:30 p.m. near Giri Road and involved five people. Police subsequently said previous enmity between Rath and the accused was being investigated as the reason for the assault.

The precise time varied slightly in early accounts, with some placing the attack closer to 9 p.m. or later. The complaint cited by police, however, placed it at approximately 00:8:30 p.m. on May 18.

Both victims were initially taken to MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur. Early information described both as stable, but subsequent police-linked accounts established that Rath had suffered serious injuries, including fractures to both legs. His family later transferred him to a hospital in Visakhapatnam for advanced treatment. Later reports differed over whether his condition was critical or stable after the transfer. Patra was reported to have sustained less serious injuries while attempting to protect him.

Initial accounts said Baidyanathpur Police had registered the case. Later police information identified the formal investigation as Berhampur Town Police Station Case No. 198/26, based on the complaint filed on May 19. Five people were named as accused in connection with the attack.

Police made the first arrests on May 20. Raj Malhotra, 21, and Lingaraj Samal, also known as Rinku, 24, were taken into custody.

Police alleged that Malhotra was present during the assault and assisted the principal attackers. Investigators accused Samal of helping plan the attack and later sheltering people involved. Those allegations concern their individual criminal liability and are based on the police investigation, not solely on what can be established from the circulating video.

Two more accused, Ashish Sahu and Dinesh Kumar Panda, were arrested on May 21, bringing the number of formal arrests reported in the case to four. Ashish Sahu was identified as the brother of Mukesh Sahu, the man police described as the principal accused. Police said Ashish surrendered at Town Police Station.

Investigators reported seizing vehicles, a bamboo stick and a mobile phone during the arrests and searches connected with the case. Later accounts listed two scooters and two motorcycles among the recovered vehicles.

Police said their investigation concluded that the assault was connected to an earlier dispute and had been planned in advance. That explanation remains an investigative conclusion attributed to police. The video itself establishes the public beating and the use of sticks, but it does not establish the motive or what occurred between those involved before the recorded confrontation.

A major development occurred late on May 20 and into the early hours of May 21, when Mukesh Sahu was wounded during a police operation near the Tamana Ghat area outside Berhampur.

According to the police account, officers had detained Sahu and were taking him toward an area where other accused were believed to be hiding when he allegedly seized a service firearm from an officer, opened fire and attempted to escape. Police said officers returned fire in self-defense.

Sahu sustained gunshot wounds to both legs and one hand and was taken to MKCG Medical College and Hospital. The circumstances of that shooting are based on the account given by police officials.

There was also a procedural difference in early follow-up reporting over Sahu's status. Some accounts described him as arrested following the exchange of fire, while a later account quoting police said he had not yet been formally arrested because he remained hospitalized and would need to be produced before a magistrate after recovering.

By the latest substantive follow-ups located on the Giri Road assault, four other accused had been formally arrested, Sahu remained hospitalized following the police shooting, and the criminal case arising from the May 18 beating was proceeding through Berhampur Town Police.

News story written by DarkGore.

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