The test identification (TI) parade of the 27th accused, arrested in the alleged Kandhamal nun rape case, will be held at the Cuttack Circle Jail, Choudwar, the Orissa High Court ruled on Tuesday.
Acting on a writ petition filed by the alleged victim, the single-judge bench of Justice I Mohanty set aside the order of the Baliguda SDJM for holding it at Baliguda sub-jail.
The nun had filed the petition challenging the order of the lower court on grounds that she still faced threat to her life in Kandhamal and also that she did not want to revisit the trauma of the 2008 incident.
The accused, Apurva Rout, had been arrested on May 6 and the Crime Branch had prayed for the TI parade before the Baliguda SDJM, where the trial of the rape case is underway. The nun had filed a petition before the SDJM seeking shifting of the procedure to Choudwar jail but it was rejected. She had then approached the Orissa High Court.
This would be the fourth TI parade conducted in connection with the sensational rape case. All the previous parades were held at Cuttack Circle Jail. The first parade was held on January 5, 2009, second on June 23, 2009 and the third on July 31, 2010.
The nun had allegedly been raped at K Nuagaon during 2008 Kandhamal riots following the assassination of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati.