KENDRAPARA: A four-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a 45-year-old man at Baruneidiha village within Rajkanika police limits here. Though the alleged crime took place on April 24, the incident came to light after the victim’s parents lodged a complaint against accused Ranjan Nayak with police on Sunday.
On April 24 evening, Ranjan allegedly lured the child with a chocolate to a secluded place in the village and raped her. The accused has fled from the village after committing the crime.
“We found our daughter crying in an orchard of the village. She had sustained injuries after being raped by Ranjan. Some villagers tried to hush up the case and pressurised us against filing police complaint. They also offered us money to bury the issue,” said the victim’s mother.The girl’s father claimed that he had informed fellow villagers about the incident and sought their help to get the suspects booked. However, some villagers, including family members of the accused, pressurised him not to lodge a complaint with police in this regard.
Rajkanika IIC Sandhyarani Beuria said acting on the FIR of the victim girl’s parents, a case has been registered against the accused. The girl was taken to Government hospital at Rajkanika for medical examination. Police are raiding several hideouts of the accused to arrest him, Beuria said. If involvement of any villagers to hush up the case is revealed during investigation, strict action will be taken against them, the IIC added.