Kunduli gangrape: Odisha now orders two probes after rape ruled out by police

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government has ordered a judicial probe as well as a Crime Branch investigation into the alleged rape of a tribal girl in Kunduli by four men in uniform. The decision to order twin probes into the incident comes a day after the Odisha police ruled out a rape.

An officer of the rank of district judge will conduct the judicial probe as per the Commission of Inquiry Act 1952. In parallel, a full investigation will be taken up by the Crime Branch.

The decision follows the controversial disclosure by Mahendra Pratap, chief of the Odisha Police’s Human Rights Protection Cell (HRPC), that an independent inquiry based on an investigation by state agencies had found no sign of rape.

The HRPC probe was conducted upon a directive by the Odisha Human Rights Commission.

Allegations of rape were also questioned Koraput superintendent of police K V Singh who stated that medical and forensic examination of the tribal girl had ruled out rape.

The girl’s allegation that she was gangraped by four men in uniform triggered outrage across the state as it suggested the involvement of paramilitary personnel engaged in anti-Maoist operations. However, the Koraput Police found no movement of security forces near Kunduli on the day the rape is alleged to have taken place.

Similarly, no movement of Maoists, who sport army fatigues, was also reported.

However, the state police's revelation met with a barrage of questions as human rights activists demanded to know why the victim was kept under medical care for so long and provided counselling if there was no rape.

The state government’s decision to order twin probe is being seen as a move solely aimed at deflecting criticism. "The Crime Branch is as much an agency of the state police as the HRPC. Besides, it was involved in the HRPC investigation right from the start. How differently can it probe the matter now," an officer said.