Bhubaneswar: The Balichandra Police of Jajpur district are on the hunt for a senior OAS officer and his father-in-law in connection with the alleged rape of a tribal girl in his residence in Shailashree Vihar area in Bhubaneswar.
According to sources, a team of officers of Balichandrapur Police Station raided the house of Pramod Kumar Prusty, deputy commissioner, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Northern Zone in the afternoon on Wednesday but didn’t find him and his father-in-law Prafulla Prusty.
Informing the media later, a senior official of Balichandrapur Police Station said that efforts are on to trace the whereabouts of the duo.
“We are tracking their mobile number and hope to find them very soon. We are in touch with the Commissionerate Police and have sought their cooperation in this case. We have taken this case seriously and take stern action against the accused,” he added.
Meanwhile, the BMC has told the police that the concerned OAS officer is on leave.
Expressing grave concern over the incident, chairperson of the Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR), Sandhyabati Pradhan said the concerned OAS officer has not only violated the rules by engaging a minor girl as a housemaid but also breached the child rights. Apart from this, the girl has been repeatedly raped for months and has become pregnant.
“The Commission will seek a report in this regard from the Jajpur SP, Bhubaneswar DCP and the concerned OAS officer and take appropriate action on the basis of the report. There will be no compromise with any official who has committed such heinous crime,” she pointed out.
The shocking incident came to light after the mother of the victim, a native of Nanapur village in Jajpur district, lodged a complaint in the Balichandrapur Police Station.
She said that her daughter, after working for about two years in the house of the OAS officer, had come to her village during Dussehra. However, suspecting a change in her physical condition, she asked her daughter who then confessed that the father-in-law of the OAS officer had repeatedly raped her for 5-6 months in his bedroom and used to threaten her with dire consequence if she reveals this to anyone.
Also Read: Tribal Girl Raped In OAS Officer’s Residence In Bhubaneswar; Complaint Lodged
