Baripada: In a shocking incident, a minor girl was allegedly raped inside Jagannath temple here Friday night.
The incident, which took place inside the holy shrine, had hurt the sentiments of devotees and locals alike. Enraged over the incident a large crowd staged protests and held up traffic for four hours demanding compensation for the victim.
A clash between the servitors and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) activists was also reported after the incident..
According to sources, servitors of Jagannath temple have been staging a hunger strike in front of the temple over various demands since Wednesday.
Baripada sub-collector and endowments officer Sarat Kumar Purohit had convened a meeting at 9pm Friday to sort out their issues. At this time, Gurucharan Behera, a resident of the area, had lured a 10-year-old girl inside the temple by offering her a chocolate and outraged her modesty on Snana Mandap (bathing altar).
When the victim came out of the temple in a critical condition, some got wind of the crime and then captured Behera.
The accused was allegedly beaten up before being handed over to the police. Initially, the victim was admitted to PMR Medical College and Hospital, and was shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack after her condition deteriorated.
Following a complaint lodged by victim’s father, the police registered a case. Local residents also surrounded the police station all through the night.
Angry locals burned tyres and blocked the road Saturday morning, demanding that the government bear the medical expenses of the girl.
Sub-collector Sarat Kumar Purohit and tehsildar Digant Routray tried to convince the agitators and assured an immediate relief of Rs 10,000 to the victim’s family from Red Cross fund.
Devotees were seething with anger following the incident in the temple. The temple administration, meanwhile, conducted sanctification and neeti rituals at the temple Friday night.
JMM activists, however, entered the temple Saturday morning and spotted blood stains on ‘‘snana mandap’’. They flew into a rage, shouted slogans against the temple authorities and sought to know how could they sanctify the shrine without washing the blood stains.
The agitating activists accused the temple administration of playing with the sentiments of the devout.
Heated arguments ensured between the sevayats and JMM activists, leading to a tussle. Police evicted the JMM activists. Servitors, however, alleged that the incident occurred in the absence of security arrangements. PNN
