Puri: In a shocking incident late Monday night, a tribal minor girl of Keonjhar district was raped inside a parked bus at Puri bus stand.
Kumbarpada police arrested the accused and after medical examination forwarded him to the court of sub divisional judicial magistrate which remanded him to jail custody Tuesday.
According to the complaint filed by the victim, she was working in a voluntary organnisation in Puri district for the last one month.
On June 29 while she was traveling to her village in Tushar Taj bus the helper of the vehicle took her mobile number. The helper called her over phone July 8 and after learning that she was in Bhubaneswar he persuaded her to travel in his bus to Puri.
She boarded the bus from Rasulgarh at 5pm Monday. She tried to get down at Malatipatpur bus stand but the helper suggested her to go to Puri to witness Rath Yatra.
The bus entered Puri bus stand at about 8 pm. The helper served her dinner and asked her to sleep inside the bus which she did.
However, at around 11pm the minor girl found the helper forcing on her. She protested and escaped from the bus. She went to Kunbharpada police station and lodged her complaint.
Police registered a case (137/19) and arrested the helper, Narayan Mullick, for interrogation. The police sent him and the victim girl to district headquarters hospital for medical examination. Further investigation is in progress, the police said.
Meanwhile, locals have questioned the security arrangement during the nine-day long car festival. “Despite 24X7 police deployment for the safety of tourists, devotes and pilgrims, how such a heinous crime could take place,” a local rued.
