Jaleswar: The decomposed body of a 14-year-old girl, who had been missing for nearly a week, was found dumped Thursday on a roadside under Nampo police outpost in Baleshwar district.
Family members and locals have alleged that she was gang-raped before being murdered. Police have arrested 22-year-old Chandrakant Jena in connection with the case and launched an investigation. The girl, a resident of Gouri Belda village in Khuluda panchayat, went missing October 16. Her family lodged a written complaint at Jaleswar police station alleging that she had been abducted by Chandrakant of Sultanpur village.
However, locals spotted the decomposed body under a tree near Sulashanda-Bartana road and alerted the police, who recovered a motorcycle key and the girl’s shoes from the scene. Family members and villagers alleged that she was first gangraped and later strangulated with a scarf. They also suspect that chemicals were used to suppress the foul smell and that a part of the body was burned. However, police have not confirmed these claims as the probe is underway.
In protest, villagers blocked the Badanagar-Jaleswar and Badanagar-Paschimabada roads, demanding justice. Additional Superintendent of Police Paresh Rout, DSP Tapaswini Kanhar, SDPO Suresh Tripathy, Bhograi police station IIC Gyanaranjan Sahu, and Additional Tehsildar Saroj Nayak visited the scene along with a forensic team. Chandrakant is being interrogated by the cops.
