Kunduli shame: HC seeks reply from state govt

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Cuttack: The Orissa High Court Tuesday sought a reply from the state government on Kunduli gangrape and subsequent suicide by the victim by June 28 while hearing a batch of petitions in this regard.
A division bench of Chief Justice Vineet Saran and Justice B R Sarangi directed the government to reply on specific issues raised by the three petitioners.
The bench also directed the petitioners to submit their counter replies after analysing the state government’s reply by June 30. The hearing on the case has been posted to July 3.
It is worth mentioning that as many as seven cases have been filed in the HC in connection with the gangrape and subsequent suicide incident of the girl. The HC has started hearing of the cases as per the direction of the Supreme Court.
The court Tuesday conducted the hearing of the cases filed by former MP Aira Kharavela Swain, advocate Goutam Siddique and the victim’s brother.
Senior advocate Pitambar Acharya, representing Swain and Siddique, alleged that police have failed to investigate the gangrape case properly. He urged the HC to order for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to provide justice to the victim’s family.
Appearing for victim’s brother, senior Supreme Court lawyer Narender Hooda too pleaded for a CBI probe into the gangrape incident. He also sought adequate compensation for the victim’s family.
The petitioners had earlier claimed that four unidentified persons had gangraped a minor girl near Kunduli in Koraput October 10, 2017. The girl committed suicide January 22, this year after police failed to pursue the case properly.
In its earlier reply, the state government had told the HC that there was no need for a CBI probe into the incident. It claimed that a special investigation team (SIT) of the Crime Branch is now investigating the case.
The state government had also informed the HC that tests conducted at State Forensic Science Laboratory and Kolkata-based Central Forensic Science Laboratory had ruled out the gangrape allegation.