Odisha: Salepur rape and murder accused attempts suicide inside jail

CUTTACK: A rape and murder accused, to be tried first under the amended Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, allegedly attempted to commit suicide inside Salepur Sub Jail in
Odisha’s Cuttack district, police said on Thursday.

The amended POCSO Act allows courts to award death penalty to those convicted of raping minors up to 12 years old.

The accused Mohammad Mustaque (25) reportedly tried to kill himself with the help of a towel in the toilet of the sub-jail on Tuesday evening, a day after the six-year-old victim succumbed to her injuries while undergoing treatment in the hospital.

Listening to his screams, jail staff rushed rushed there and abstained him from committing suicide. After the incident, the authorities shifted Mustaque to Cell No. 4 to keep a strict vigil on him.

Police sources said, Mustaque had gone to ease himself and when he did not come out of the washroom for a long time, it triggered suspicion among other prisoners who then found him pressing her neck with the help of towel. They alerted the jail staffs.

Meanwhile, Superintendent of Salepur Sub Jail has lodged a complaint with Salepur police seeking a probe into the incident.

Acting on the complaint, police have registered a case and initiated a probe. A team of police officials visited the jail campus on Wednesday and quizzed Mustaque.

“Prima facie it appears to be a stunt by the accused to gain sympathy. A case has been registered against him under section 309 of IPC. Further investigation is on,” said Inspector-in-Charge of Salepur police station Debendra Kumar Mallik.

While the Crime Branch of police has already designated it as a ‘Red Flag’ case, DG of Police Dr RP Sharma has directed the investigating officer to file the chargesheet within 15 days.

With head injuries, the minor girl was rescued by villagers from the premises of Jagannathpur Nodal UP School on April 21 night. The accused had crushed her head with a stone after committing the crime
leaving her seriously injured.

She, however, succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment at SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack on April 29. Expressing deep grief over the incident, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh for the victim’s family and assured stringent punishment against the accused.