BHUBANESWAR/BERHAMPUR: A couple of days after a minor girl from Jagannathprasad in Ganjam district was allegedly raped and murdered by her neighbour - a hardcore criminal - in Surat, the Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR) on Friday urged the Gujarat Women and Child Development department, local collector and SP to look into the incident.
OSCPCR chairperson Mandakini Kar said the commission is in touch with Gujarat officials to extend all help to the victim’s family. On the day, a team of Childline officials from Odisha and Surat also met the victim’s family to provide them legal help for compensation and counselling.
Daughter of a migrant couple from Jagannathprasad, the seven-year-old girl had gone missing on Wednesday. The girl went out of her house at around 11 am to feed stray dogs and when she did not return for two hours, her parents started searching for her and informed local police.
During investigation, police found the house of couple’s neighbour 40-year-old Mukesh Chamanlal Panchal locked. They collected his phone number and dialled the number which went unanswered a number of times. They then broke into the house and during search, found the girl’s body packed in a gunny bag and kept inside the storage box of a bed.
Probe revealed that Mukesh was a hardcore criminal and had several cases registered against him. Mukesh’s mobile number was handed over to Gujarat Crime Branch which tracked it to zero in on him.
While Mukesh was arrested on Thursday, Chowk Bazaar police, where the FIR was registered, informed that he was working as a welder in a local machinery factory and was known to the victim’s family.
“On the day of the incident when the victim’s parents were searching for her, the accused after committing the crime visited their house and also inquired about the girl. After telling them that she would be somewhere nearby, he left to consume alcohol at a shop,” said police. Crime Branch inspector K Modi informed that the accused was produced in court and remanded in judicial custody.
The victim was the youngest among four siblings (all girls) and her parents had migrated to Surat 14 years back to work in textile factories. At present, while the victim’s father Shibaprasad Govindacharan Swain works as a cleaner in a factory at Ved, her mother Sunita decorates fabrics with mirrors for a living. The couple makes around Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 a month. They along with Odia Samaj members in Surat are demanding death sentence for Mukesh for the brutal murder. They took out a rally on Thursday over the demand.
BJP leader from Ganjam Srikant Padhy urged Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sangvi and ACP BP Rojiya to take up the case in a fast track court. The ACP has reportedly accepted the proposal.