Cuttack: In the shocking case of gangrape of a minor girl in confinement for over three weeks in the city last year, a POCSO court on Tuesday acquitted the two accused for lack of evidence.
As per the case, the 15-year-old victim, a Class IX student of Garama panchayat in Tirtol block of Jagatsinghpur district, had left her house and was staying with her elder sister in the Professor Pada of the city after she was tortured by her father.
Following some dispute between her sister and brother-in-law, the girl’s sister asked her to return to her parents’ house. While she was waiting to catch a bus to go to her village at the OMP Square, she was lured by a youth who took her to Badambadi area.
As the girl insisted on going home, the youth assured her of dropping her at her house. But he took her to a poultry farm at Gatiroutapatana where he raped her. The youth’s friend also raped her and recorded it on his mobile phone. The duo kept the girl in confinement and raped her for 22 days.
Acting on a tip-off, the Chauliaganj Police rescued the girl on October 12 and handed her over to the Childline Centre. After the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) recorded the victim’s statement, Childline convener Narayan Shukla lodged a complaint in the Chauliaganj Police Station on October 13 on the direction of the CWC.
Following a manhunt, the police arrested the two accused, identified as Rakesh Rout and Santosh Behera and forwarded them to court on October 15.
After hearing the case, the POCSO court acquitted Rakesh and Santosh on ground of insufficient evidence. The Commissionerate Police could not produce the statement of the victim nor the complaint of her parents.
