BHUBANESWAR: A six-year-old girl died after she was sexually assaulted by her neighbour in Gopabandhu Nagar under Jatni police limits of Khurda district on Thursday night. The victim was rushed to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here in an unconscious state, but was declared brought dead by doctors.
Angry locals caught hold of the accused, Anand Pradhan (24), and beat him up injuring him severely. They later handed the accused over to the police. He has been shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.
The locals also staged a protest in front of Jatni police station and blocked the road demanding strong action against the culprit.The victim was staying with her parents, who are bangle sellers, at Mundia Sahi. Pradhan had shifted to the locality three months back and was working as a labourer. He used to visit the victim’s house frequently.
On Thursday night, the victim went missing and on suspicion, her parents searched for her at Pradhan’s house. But the accused prevented them from entering his house. They later barged into his house and found the minor girl lying unconscious.
The victim’s father said he was manhandled by some persons when he was going to lodge a police complaint. Police arrested a local, Kartik Parida, for manhandling the girl’s father.“The accused has been detained and a special team will investigate the matter,” Bhubaneswar DCP Anup Sahu said.
Meanwhile, with election going on, several political leaders met the victim’s family and expressed their condolences.
Reacting to the incident, BJP vice-president Baijayant Panda tweeted: “Do you know how many such incidents in Odisha in 2019? Several dozen.”State Congress president Niranjan Patnaik said violence against women has gone up in the State.Odisha Police’s flagship ‘Paree’ campaign was launched to reduce cases of child sexual abuse, but it seems to have little impact.