Koraput: The Commission of Inquiry has begun the hearing of the sensational Kunduli gang rape and suicide in which a minor girl was allegedly raped by armed jawans. Failing to bear the public stigma, the girl later killed herself.
Deb Kumar Gamang, Pottangi inspector-in-charge and Human Rights Protection Cell (HRPC) inspector, Mamata Panigrahi, deposed as witness in the Court of District and Sessions Judge in Jeypore, Koraput district, Sunday.
The second hearing is scheduled for May 20, in which Crime Branch DSP SL Patnaik and former Jeypore town police officer Tapan Narayan Rath will be deposed. The two officials were deposed for around 45 minutes before the commission head Bidyut Kumar Mishra Sunday.
Earlier on April 29, a three-member team led by Koraput District and Sessions Judge-cum-Commissioner Bidyut Kumar Mishra had visited Musaguda village and questioned the family members of the victim.
It also visited the crime spot, where the minor girl had been allegedly gang raped by “four persons in uniform.”
The minor girl had alleged that four “persons in uniform” gang raped her on October 10, 2017. Following a public outcry, the case was first investigated by the police and later handed over to the Crime Branch.
On November 6, 2017, Human Rights Protection Cell (HRPC) ADG, Mahendra Pratap made a shocking revelation that the victim was not raped. Amid all the hue and cry, the minor girl hanged herself to death at her house on January 22.
Later on February 7, the Chief Minister ordered a judicial probe into the incident. Initially, the commission was asked to submit its report within three months.
However after its tenure expired on March 25, 2018, the Home Department on March 26, 2018, extended the commission’s tenure by three months.
