Even as the death of 15-year- old Dalit girl from Kendrapara continues to trigger angry protests, a deaf and dumb tribal girl of Mayurbhanj was allegedly raped by an instructor of Vocational Rehabilitation Centre (VRC) for the Handicapped in the City.
Dhiraj Srivastava, the instructor who has been charged with the rape, was arrested by Mahila Police on Saturday evening immediately after a complaint was lodged. VRC is a Government of India institution.
Police said Srivastava had allegedly taken the girl to a lodge where she was raped. The incident allegedly occurred on August 7 and was reported to police with help of an NGO on Saturday evening.
The victim was doing a one-year vocational course on radio and TV repairing at VRC along with another girl from her home district.
Her training was completed on August 6 and she was to receive her certificate on Monday or Tuesday, sources said. She was staying at the hostel located on the VRC campus in Pokhariput.
On August 7, the girl fell sick and reportedly approached Srivastava for help. As per the complaint, assuring the girl of providing medical assistance, the instructor took her to a lodge in Baramunda where he repeatedly raped her. The girl returned to the hostel and confided the matter with her friend.
Then they took up the matter with the Odisha Association for the Deaf which on Saturday evening reported the incident to Mahila Police which swung into action and arrested Srivastava from the same lodge.
Opposition political parties were quick to condemn the incident.
Chhatra Congress activists gheraoed Mahila Police Station seeking action against the accused late in the evening.
Tension prevailed at Capital Hospital where the girl was undergoing medical examination with BJP and Congress activists gathering in large number.