BHUBANESWAR: Nearly two weeks after a special investigation team (SIT) took over investigation into the murder case of a 5-year-old girl in Nayagarh district in July, the investigators have come to know she was allegedly raped before being killed. The girl would have turned six on Wednesday.
The Orissa high court-monitored SIT, which was constituted by the state government on November 28 amid public outrage and political slugfest over the gruesome case, has made this startling disclosure before the high court on Wednesday through an affidavit.
“We found semen stains on her cloth that was recovered by Nayagarh Sadar police on July 23. Her dress was sent for forensic examination. The report confirmed the presence of semen stains on her cloth. This clearly indicated she was sexually assaulted before the murder,” a senior officer said.
SIT sources said the main accused has been identified and would be arrested soon. The accused belonged to the deceased's village.
“Though the post-mortem report earlier could not ascertain the sexual assault owing to the decomposition of the body in July, the rape angle was not ruled out. Presence of semen stains on her dress lent credence to the sexual assault,” the officer said.
The significant breakthrough after five months raised serious questions on the quality of investigation that was earlier conducted by the local police before the five-member SIT, headed by inspector general of police (crime) Arun Bothra, took over the probe on November 28. Other four officers of the SIT are from the state crime branch.
On December 3, the Orissa high court had come down heavily on the police for the poor investigation into the Nayagarh's girl's murder case and asked the SIT for an expeditious investigation.
The Nayagarh Sadar police had registered a case of abduction after the child went missing while playing outside her house on July 14. Her skeletal remains were found near her home on July 23. The abduction case turned into a murder after the DNA test confirmed the skeletal remains belonged to the missing girl. But the local police failed to unravel the mystery surrounding the child’s disappearance and killing.
The incident hogged limelight and triggered statewide furore only after her parents attempted self-immolation outside the assembly here on November 24 in protest against the police inaction. Amid protests from opposition BJP and Congress, the state government ordered a SIT probe under the supervision of the Orissa high court.
The state government on December 10 suspended inspector-in-charge of Nayagarh Sadar police station Rinarani Sahu and transferred the local sub-divisional police officer Niranjan Padhi for botched-up investigation and negligence in the case.
The deceased's father was inconsolable after learning she was subjected to sexual assault before being murdered. "How could the local police cover up such a inhuman crime against a child? I also suspect organ theft racket behind my daughter's murder. The police and state government have been trying to protect cabinet minister Arun Sahoo, whose close associates killed my daughter," the girl's father said. The BJP has been demanding a CBI probe into the minor's murder and resignation of minister Arun Sahoo.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)