Orissa violence: Police arrest four for nun's rape

{image-nuns rape_03102008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Kandhamal (Orissa) Oct 3: Four people have been arrested in Orissa in connection with the rape of a Catholic nun more than a month ago.

Police said that at least one police officer has also been suspended in the wake of the 29-year-old nun lodging a complaint on August 25. The Catholic nun, working with the Divyajyoti Pastoral Centre at Kanjemandi village, alleged that she was dragged out of a Hindu man's house where she had taken shelter along with a 55-year-old priest, Father Thomas Chellantharayil.

According to a BBC report, the nun says that she was taken to an abandoned house where a member of the mob raped her. She also alleged that she was paraded naked through the streets. Sangeeta Mishra, the doctor who conducted the medical test on the nun the same evening, also confirmed the rape. Christians have also faced attacks in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.

Hindu groups have long accused Christian priests of bribing poor tribes and low-caste Hindus to convert to Christianity. Christians say lower-caste Hindus convert willingly to escape the Hindu caste system.

ANI