DHENKANAL: Three days after the blood-stained body of a 16-year-old girl was recovered from Saruali forest near Kamakhyanagar, police on Sunday arrested four persons on charges of raping and murdering the minor.
The accused are Gangadhar Patra (38) of Jiral Santarapur, Rasananda Nayak (64) of Kumusi village in Parjang, Chandan Nayak (26) of Sainidipur and Madan Patra (35) of Santarapur. While Gangadhar, the prime accused in the case, was arrested from Keonjhar for allegedly raping and murdering the girl, the three others were apprehended for helping him to conceal the murder.
Addressing mediapersons, Dhenkanal SP Abhinav Sonkar said the victim was waiting for a bus at Bhuban in Jagannath Bazaar to return home from her college at around 12 pm on March 18. Gangadhar, who is a bus driver and was known to the victim, offered her a lift in his car. Instead of taking her home, he drove her to Paligram forest, located around 5 km from Kamakhyanagar, and sexually assaulted her.
Following the crime, the girl started bleeding excessively. When the bleeding didn’t stop, Gangadhar reportedly took her to Kamakhyanagar town in the car and sought the help of Madan to buy clothes and sanitary napkins for the victim. However, all measures to stop the bleeding didn’t work. Subsequently, the accused he took the girl back to Paligram forest where she succumbed due to excessive bleeding, police said.
“Gangadhar then sought the help of his uncle Rasananda and his relative Chandan to dispose of the body. After dumping the body in Saruali forest, he absconded,” said police.
The next day, the girl’s mother lodged a complaint basing on which police registered a case and started investigation. Gangadhar was nabbed from Keonjhar and the other accused were arrested from their respective villages. Further investigation is underway, police added.