Angul: In a bone-chilling incident, a 13-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped and raped before being murdered in the most brutal manner under Sadar police limits here Sunday afternoon.
The victim, was a student of Class VII in a nearby school. The heinous incident has spread shockwaves in the area. This comes within weeks of rape and subsequent pregnancy of four minor girls in Kalahandi, Dhenkanal, Jajpur and Kandhamal districts.
The bevy of criminal incidents shows the increasing atrocities against women in the state after the commencement of the New Year.
According to reports, the minor girl had gone to her father’s grocery shop carrying lunch for him at 3 pm. Family members grew apprehensive when the girl did not reach the shop. Their relatives searched for her in every possible location but failed to trace her. Her whereabouts could not be ascertained as the girl did not even have a mobile phone with her.
Some villagers, who noticed the girl’s mutilated and disrobed body in a bush near a nullah, informed the relatives. Apprised, the family members who were left in a state of shock rushed to the spot and collected the remnants. It is suspected that the girl was bludgeoned to death with stones after allegedly being raped.
On being informed, the police reached the spot and recovered the body before starting an investigation. Sniffer dogs and forensic teams have been pressed into service. A bowl, bag, tiffin box, a pair of girl’s slippers, men’s slippers and two blood stained stones were seized from the spot.
The exact reason behind the crime can be ascertained on receipt of the post-mortem report, said the police. Superintendent of Police Mitrabhanu Mohapatra, DIG Narsingh Bhol (North-Central) and Angul IIC Ramesh Chandra Bisoi reached the spot and conducted an inquest into the incident.
Villagers have named an accused, a resident of Godi Sahi area, as responsible for the incident. The suspect has allegedly fled the village after the crime. The police have claimed to have sealed all entry and exit routes to the area and launched a manhunt to nab the culprit.
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