Bhubaneswar: A minor victim of sexual abuse from Koraput, along with her relatives, moved the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) and State Commission for Women (SCW) Friday seeking justice and action against alleged police apathy.
They accused the local police of showing no interest in arresting the culprit despite a lapse of more the three months since the date of the incident.
According to sources, the 15-year-old victim is a class X student of a high school under the Laxmipur police station limits in Koraput. The victim used to live in a hostel before she moved back to her to her residence due to ill health after the Christmas holidays in 2018.
Meanwhile, the accused— the paternal uncle of the girl—also belongs to the same village. He works as a driver. The accused asked the victim, who was returning from school, to get into his car and he would drop her at her residence February 3. The girl went with him in his car but the accused stopped the car near a jungle and forcefully raped her inside the vehicle. The accused had held a knife to her throat.
Later, he threatened the girl to kill her and her parents if she dared to divulge the matter before anyone. However, he again tried to sexually abuse her few days later which she warded off successfully as some villagers came to her rescue after hearing her screams, February 27.
Subsequently, her parents approached the village committee after they came to know about the incident March 1. However, the accused did not appear before the committee as he fled the village after the failed bid exposed him February 27.
The father of the girl lodged a police complaint in this matter after the the accused did not appear before the committee twice.
The victim’s father alleged that the police have shown no interest in arresting the accused. Instead, the cops asked them the whereabouts of the accused so they could arrest him.
The victim’s family allegedly informed the Superintendent of the Koraput alleging the local police’s inaction, but to no avail.
The accused has reportedly been staying at a relative’s house and is trying to get interim bail from the High Court.
The victim and her family, Friday, lodged two different complaints with the OHRC and SCW at Toshali Plaza here.