Jajpur: A 16-year-old girl under Dasarathpur police limits in this district was frequently raped in the sleeper compartment of a moving bus allegedly by a relative, Sunday. The matter came to the fore Monday after the minor survivor lodged a complaint against one Dayanidhi Jena, 45, at Dasarathpur police station, pleading for justice. The minor is stated to have been raped multiple times by the accused. The appalling incident sent shockwaves in the district as it brought back in the minds of people the sordid memory of the brutal gangrape of Nirbhaya in a moving bus in Delhi 11 years back, which also occurred Sunday. Dasarathpur police have registered a case (195/2023) under Section 376 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and various sections of the POCSO Act.
However, police were yet to arrest the accused when reports last came in. According to the complaint, the survivor is a student of Class-X. The girl was going to attend her tuition classes at 6 am Sunday when Dayanidhi waylaid her. He asked her to accompany him to a hospital in Bhadrak after informing that her mother was sick and admitted there.
Believing his words, the girl went with him. Dayanidhi then parked the girl’s bicycle at a house and took her on a bike (OD-34K-5190) to the Akhandalamani petrol pump in Bhadrak district. There he took a bus to Bhadrak and from there boarded another bus to Kolkata along with the girl. However, on the way to Kolkata, taking advantage of the large curtains he raped her inside the sleeper compartment of the bus repeatedly. When the girl resisted his advances, he threatened to kill her. He even warned her of dire consequences if she disclosed the matter before others.
Later, he informed the girl of taking her to Kolkata. The minor sat in the sleeper coach in a helpless condition as she failed to know where the bus reached. Fearing for her life, she even failed to speak up or raise an alarm. Later, Dayanidhi again raped her in the sleeper compartment at around 8 pm, Sunday when they were returning to Bhadrak by another bus. They arrived at Bhadrak by 3 am, Monday when Dayanidhi hired an auto-rickshaw and dropped the girl in critical condition near her village. While leaving, he again threatened her of dire consequences if she disclosed the matter before others. When contacted, Dasarathpur IIC Badrinath Behera admitted to having received the complaint. He said a rape case was registered under POCSO Act and a medical examination was conducted on the survivor. He added that he could speak more on the issue after receiving the report. A manhunt has been launched to nab the accused while efforts are on to identify the buses in which the two travelled to Kolkata and returned to Bhadrak.
