JEYPORE: A 19-year-old girl suffered critical injuries after a spurned lover stabbed her with a knife for resisting rape attempt in Koraput’s Nandapur on Wednesday evening.
The victim, a resident of Kurumaput village under Khemunduguda panchayat within Nandapur police limits, has been admitted to SLN Medical College and Hospital. Luku Khera, the 25-year-old accused, is on the run after committing the crime.
Police sources said the victim, a Class IX dropout of Kurumaput government school, had gone to answer nature’s call to an isolated place near her house in the evening. The accused followed the girl to the place and tried to undress her forcibly with an intention to commit rape. When she resisted, Khera hit her head with a stone and stabbed her with a knife.
On hearing the girl’s screams, villagers rushed to the spot but by then, the accused had fled. She was rushed to the nearby community health centre at Kunduli. The victim was later shifted to SLN MCH after her condition deteriorated.
Locals said the accused is married and even has a child. He had reportedly approached the victim with marriage proposal several times in the past only to meet with refusal from the girl. “The girl’s family had fixed her marriage recently. This might have led Khera to commit the crime,” said villagers.
Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Nandapur Sambit Kumar Majhi said the accused tried to kill the girl in a fit of rage after she turned him down. Preliminary investigation suggests the victim was not raped.
Basing on the complaint of the victim’s brother, Nandapur police have registered a case. “The knife and stone used in the crime have been seized from the spot. Efforts are on to nab the accused youth who is absconding. Further investigation is underway,” the SDPO added. Hospital sources said the condition of the victim girl is stable.