PARADIP: In a shocking incident, a seven-year-old tribal girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by a butcher for three days inside his chicken meat shop in Paradip.
The accused, Raja Khan (24) of Ram Nagar in Kendrapara, worked as a butcher and lived in the same slum as the survivor in Paradip. He was arrested by the police on Sunday and sent for medical examination.
Sources said that the minor survivor lived with her father in a slum under Paradip Model Police limits. Her father often wandered away after consuming alcohol, leaving the child alone at home. “The girl begged in the slum to arrange food for herself,” they said.
Police said that Khan, reportedly lured the child with chocolates on Thursday and took her to a meat preparation cabin. He reportedly mixed drugs in a cold drink given to the survivor, following which she became unconscious. He then confined her inside the closed cabin and repeatedly sexually assaulted her over three days. However, no missing complaint was filed by the survivor’s father.
The girl managed to escape on Saturday and informed a friend about the ordeal. The friend alerted women in the slum, who then confronted the accused. A group of women gheraoed the cabin on Saturday evening, where the accused had locked himself inside. They broke open the door, dragged him out, tied his hands to a tree, and assaulted him before handing him over to the police.
The victim’s father later lodged an FIR at Paradip Model Police station. Police registered a case and arrested the accused. Additional SP Smruti Ranjan Kar said the accused has been sent for medical examination, along with the victim.
A 23-year-old woman was raped twice and murdered earlier this week, sending shockwaves in the district.