BHUBANESWAR: The postmortem of minor girl from Kandhamal’s Gaudapada has revealed that she allegedly died by suicide. Initial investigation suggests the 14-year-old may have taken to the extreme step after coming under intense pressure and humiliation.
It took police at least 20 days to make the first arrest. Few days after her death, a video of the girl being manhandled by some people went viral. The victim’s male friend, prime accused in the case, has been booked for abetment and charges of rape.
According to police, the girl left her house on June 16 to meet a friend staying in Dakangi village, about 18 km from Gaudapada under Phulbani Sadar police limits. Two days later on June 18, the victim’s body was found hanging from a tree near an ITI institute. Police initially registered a case of unnatural death and launched an investigation.
After the video went viral on social media, police registered a cognizable case on July 7 and arrested 10 persons including prime accused 22-year-old Sudam Kanhar of Dakangi village. While Kanhar was arrested on July 8, nine others were held on July 24.
Police said the victim was with Kanhar on June 17 evening when some villagers spotted and harassed the duo. Probe suggests that Kanhar was upset over the incident and did not want to continue the relationship with her. This, police suspect, may have been the reason behind the girl’s decision to end her life. She was studying in class IX at a school in Dutipada.
Sources said the victim’s postmortem report has not indicated forceful sexual assault before death. However, as Kanhar told investigators that he had physical relationship with her, he was booked under Sections 376(2)(n), 376(3) of IPC and Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Biological samples of the victim and the prime accused have been sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL) in Bhubaneswar to ascertain whether he had sexually assaulted her. “While the prime accused has been booked for kidnapping, abetment of suicide and rape, others were booked for rioting and manhandling the victim,” Kandhamal SP Vinit Agarwal told TNIE. Police are trying to find out if more people were part of the group behind the attack on the girl, he added.
The incident has left victim’s mother devastated and subsequently videos of her being beaten up emerging on social media has had traumatising effect. “I shifted with my husband from a remote village to Gaudapada about 10 to 12 years back so that my three daughters could get quality education. I want stringent action against all the accused,” she said. The victim’s father has been unwell since 2012 and her mother is works as a domestic help for their livelihood.
