SC to direct on CBI probe of Kandhamal nun rape case

Responding to a question on the possibility of transferring the rape case of a catholic nun to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Orissa government has said that it is now up to the Supreme Court to issue direction on the probe.

The nun, who was tortured by a Hindu mob and later raped by one of the member at K. Nuagaon in Kandhamal district on August 25, had earlier urged the state administration to transfer her case to the CBI as she had no faith on state police.

She was allegedly paraded naked and raped when clashes between Hindus and Christians took an ugly turn soon after the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati on August 23. The case however came into notice only after a month with intense media pressure and criticism over the conduct of police in the matter.

In fact, the 28-year-old nun had filed a police complaint on August 26 at the Baliguda police station under Kandhamal district but the police collected the report of medical examination on October 2.

The Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Raphael Cheenath had appealed in the apex court seeking direction to the Orissa government to handover the case to CBI. The case is at present in the hands of state criminal investigation department but no such breakthrough has been made yet.

So far, the police have held as many as eight people in connection with the nun rape case but yet to trace the location of the victim nun. Meanwhile, the police have decided to conduct DNA test of the suspected persons.

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