Baliguda/Kotagarh: Locals of a village under Kotagarh block who had staged a road blockade demanding capital punishment for the rapist in connection with the rape and murder of a Class IV girl, called off their agitation after 30 hours following Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s assurance and ex-gratia for the victim’s kin.
Patnaik announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) for the family members of the minor girl. Condemning the inhumane act, the CM also assured the agitating people of taking stringent action against the accused.
Meanwhile, police cracked the murder mystery and arrested the accused identified as Gagan Pradhan who confessed to the crime during interrogation.
Gagan who had gone to the pond to relieve himself, spotted the eight-year-old girl alone and lured her with a chocolate. He then took her to a bush where he raped her twice before strangulating her to death.
“I had raped her twice and she was bleeding and crying in pain. I feared she might reveal the matter. So, I strangled her to death,” Gagan confessed, police said.
Earlier Saturday, the body of the minor school girl was recovered from a bush near the village pond. Villagers said, the girl had gone to attend nature’s call after returning from school in the morning. However, as she did not return, her family members searched for her and later lodged a missing persons’ complaint with the local police.
Later, police and some local youths spotted the mutilated body of the minor girl from the bush.
“The accused has been arrested. We have sent him to the MKCG Hospital in Berhampur for medical examination. The body of the minor girl has also been sent to Berhampur for post-mortem,” informed Baliguda SDPO, Nitin Kushalkar.
The locals had reportedly blocked the main road passing through the block disrupting vehicular movement between Kandhamal and Rayagada.
PNN
