Bhubaneswar: A Class-IX student of Sorispadar Government School at Odisha’s Maoist-dominated Koraput district – who alleged she was gang-raped by four armed security personnel on October 10, 2017 – hanged herself to death at her house in Musaguda village on Monday evening.
She had previously also accused the police of harassing her during the probe.
The incident has assumed political colour and has triggered public outrage across the district as opposition parties gathered at the victim’s village. The protesters demanded that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik should come clean and sought a CBI inquiry into the matter.
The situation currently remains tense at Masaguda with the victim’s family staging a roadblock on NH-26 with the body. They demand that the miscreants should immediately be arrested and the doctor at Cuttack Medical College, who stated in his medical report that that the girl was not raped, be dismissed.
Speaking to the News18 over telephone, local MLA Prafulla Kumar Pangi of BJD, said, “The medical report ruled out rape. I conveyed that to the girl’s family yesterday. But today I heard that they have put up a roadblock.”
Asked why a 14-year-old girl will make such an allegation unless she was assaulted, Pangi said, “I don’t know why she said all this. All I know is that the medical report is not confirming rape.”
SDPO Narahari Nayak said, “We are trying to convince the family members for post mortem of the girl but so far they have refused. They are demanding immediate action against all accused, including the doctor. They allege that the doctor signed the medical report under pressure. Senior police officers are on the spot and we are trying to bring the situation under control.”
The girl’s mother, a daily wage labourer, returned home from work on Monday afternoon and found her daughter hanging from ceiling. She immediately raised an alarm and drew attention of her neighbours.
“They informed the local police. We took her to Kunduli Community Health Centre where the doctors declared her brought dead,” the SDPO said.
In October, the Dalit girl alleged that she was gang-raped by four security personnel in uniform at Sorispadar forest when she was returning home from a market close to her house. Since then her family members alleged they were under pressure from the police to withdraw the case.
In November last year, the girl had attempted suicide by drug overdose but survived. The victim lived with her mother and brother after her father left them. Her mother said she sank into depression after the medical report ruled out her claim. She said that it was denial of justice and social stigma that drove the 14-year old to take this extreme step.
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