Kandhamal Nun Rape Case: Odisha Govt To Appoint Special Prosecutor For Hearing In Cuttack

Cuttack: The survivor in the sensational Kandhamal nun rape case in Odisha appeared in the court of the district and sessions judge in Cuttack on Wednesday.

However, the rape survivor could not be examined in connection with the case in the court. The statement of the nun could not be recorded. The proceedings could not be conducted in the court as the state government was yet to appoint a lawyer for the num, sources said.

It may be noted here that three persons were convicted, while six others acquitted due to lack of evidence in March 2014 by the court in Cuttack in connection with the nun rape case in Kandhamal district during the 2008 riots.

Subsequently, 18 others were booked in the gangrape case and the statement of the nun was slated to be recorded in the court in the case registered in Baliguda police station in Kandhamal district,

The court will take up hearing in the case after the state government appoints a special prosecutor.

It may be recalled that the nun was raped at Baliguda in Kandhamal district on August 25, 2008.

Thirty-eight people were killed in the Kandhamal riots which occurred in the tribal-dominated district in the aftermath of the killing of VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati at his Jalespata Ashram on August 23, 2008.

The nun had alleged she was attacked, gang-raped and paraded semi-naked through the streets two days later in Kandhamal.

The trial in the case had begun in Cuttack in August 2010. The Crime Branch of Odisha Police probed the incident and filed charge sheet against the nine persons in first phase.