Bhadrak: While a portion of Odisha was busy preparing for the phase-II polls, a minor girl was brutally raped Wednesday by a man who also tried to kill her to erase evidence.
The cops Saturday arrested and forwarded to court, the accused Gagan Behera (55) of Banitia village in Bhadrak district. The court rejected his bail plea and Gagan was remanded to police custody in the Bhadrak district jail. The girl, who is undergoing treatment at the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, is stable according investigating officer in the case, Dayanidhi Das.
According to family members of the victim, Gagan had abducted the girl Wednesday. He tied her limbs and took her to an empty spot near a canal and outraged her modesty. Later, he strangled her and fled assuming she was dead when she fell unconscious. Family members grew apprehensive and searched for the girl when she did not return home till late in the night. The victim remained at the spot until Thursday morning when some locals spotted her and informed her family. She was then rushed to a local hospital from where she was sent to Cuttack. The incident spread outrage in the area.
It should also be mentioned here that a similar sort of incident happened in a village under Fatehgarh police limits of Nayagarh district on the day of voting. The youth reportedly took the minor to an isolated spot on pretext of giving her lift to home and outraged her modesty.
The accused was nabbed by villagers and thrashed before being handed over to the police. The survivor, on the other hand, was rescued in an unconscious state and rushed to hospital.
The incidents come in the wake of the brutal rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in Khurda district a few days back.
PNN