ROURKELA/JHARSUGUDA: In a horrific crime, a 24-year-old youth accused of raping a minor girl last year, jumped interim bail and murdered the victim before dismembering her body and disposed it of in Brahmani river at Rourkela.
The incident came to light on Wednesday when Jharsuguda police brought the accused to Rourkela and recovered the body parts, including torso of the victim, with the help of a forensic team and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), from near Tarkera pump house. Search for the victim’s head was still underway.
Before committing the heinous act, the main accused Kunu Kisan kidnapped the victim from Jharsuguda town and took her on a two-wheeler to a place under Lathikata police limits where he allegedly killed the 18-year-old girl. The two places are about 145 km apart.
Kisan who was arrested in August last year on charges of raping the victim - a minor then - was granted interim bail three months later on December 4. However, as he jumped bail and did not appear before the court, a non-bailable warrant was issued against him.
IG (Northern Range) Himanshu Lal informed that the victim was staying at her aunt’s place at Jharsuguda and worked at a beauty parlour at Beheramal. After she went missing, a complaint was lodged with Jharsuguda police on December 7. Using artificial intelligence features of the CCTV system, police detected the girl riding pillion with two persons.
“Using technical forensics and CCTV footage of neighbouring areas, Kisan was identified and brought for interrogation. He then confessed to the murder and chopping off the girl’s body before disposing of the parts in Brahmani river near Balughat and Tarkera nullah of Rourkela,” Lal said.
The forensic team collected evidence including severed body parts, clothes and footwear of the victim along with the weapon used in the crime.
The IG said Kisan told investigators he was apprehensive about being convicted in the rape case if the victim’s statement was recorded during the trial and decided to take the extreme step after failing to convince her to give a favourable statement on a previous occasion.
DNA test on victim’s body to be held
Along with an accomplice, Kisan drove the girl from Jharsuguda till Rourkela-Deogarh road along NH-143 under Lathikata police limits where he murdered her. After that, he chopped the body into pieces and disposed them off at two different places under Raghunathpalli police jurisdiction.
“To avoid detection, the accused changed the registration number plate and look of the motorbike used in the crime. He also wore a full-mask helmet,” Lal said adding Kisan’s accomplice too has been arrested.
Jharsuguda SP Smit P Parmar said the victim’s family members identified the body from her belongings but a DNA test would be conducted for scientific identification, adding that a chargesheet would be submitted without delay for speedy trial.
Sources said, the victim hailed from Dharuadihi police limits in Sundargarh and during her stay at her uncle’s house in the nearby Lefripada block had come in contact with Kisan who was from the same area. After she returned to Dharuadihi, the accused raped her and a case under sections 376 (2n)/506 IPC/6 POSCO Act was registered on August 26, 2023.