Kunduli Rape And Suicide Case: HC Seeks Reply From Odisha Govt, CBI

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Wednesday directed the state government and the CBI to furnish a reply on the much-talked-about Kunduli gang rape and suicide case.

A division bench of the court, comprising Chief Justice Vineet Saran and Justice Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi, served notices to the Chief Secretary, Home Department, DG Police, Koraput SP and the director of CBI asking them to submit a reply by May 3.

The directive of the court came in response to a writ petition filed by victim’s brother Bhagaban Chhatti and president of Utkal Bharat, Kharabela Swain.

Alleging failure of the state government and the police in providing justice to the minor rape victim who subsequently committed suicide, the petitioners claimed that the investigation has completely deviated from what happened in reality as the senior police officials left no stone unturned to prove all the allegations as false and destroy evidence in the case. Considering the circumstances, they prayed the court to intervene in the matter and direct the state government to order a CBI to probe into the sensitive case.

Talking to mediapersons, senior advocate Pitambara Acharya said the petitioners can file a review petition before May 2, a day before the next hearing.