Baliguda police officer suspended in nun rape case

Bhubaneswar, Oct 3 (UNI) The Orissa government today ordered a Crime Branch inquiry by the Inspector General of Police and suspended Baliguda Police Station Officer-in-Charge K M Rao in connection with the rape of a nun in the strife-torn Kandhmal district on August 25.

The victim had lodged a complaint with the Baliguda police station and was medically examined, but the report was not made available with the police as the doctor concerned went on leave in the wake of communal violence in the area.

Kandhmal Superintendent of Police Praveen Kumar said four people were arrested and forwarded to the court today in connection with the incident after the medical examination confirmed that the nun was raped.

The four arrested were also medically examined before being produced in a local court.

The incident took place just two days after senior VHP leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four of his disciples were assassinated by unknown assailants in Jalaspeta Ashrma in Kandhmal.

The murder of the Swamiji sparked off arson and communal tension in the district in which places of worship and several houses were torched by the mob.

The district also witnessed bloody clashes between two communities and the police forces, resulting in the death of over 30 people in a month.

Police said the nun, after lodging the FIR, had left the place and did not communicate about her whereabouts.

The incident, which was almost forgotten following continuing communal violence in the district, was recently reported in a section of the press and was condemned from various quarters.

Sister Nirmala, Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity, Kolkata, had expressed concern over the incident and sent a letter to Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in this regard, sources said.

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