The Odisha police have arrested six persons on charges of raping a minor tribal girl several times over the last seven months. The victim is now pregnant.
Police officials in southern Odisha district of Rayagada said the 14-year-old girl from Gunupur sub-division area was six months pregnant when her mother found out about the incident.
“A few days ago, the girl’s mother found her daughter’s condition had deteriorated and called a local ASHA worker to take her for check-up. During a medical test at a government hospital, she was found to be six months pregnant. The girl then revealed to her mother how six persons had been sexually assaulting her on different occasions,” said Rayagada SP Dr Vivek Saravana.
The accused, five from the same village as that of the victim, have been arrested. All of them will be tested for Covid. “The accused first assaulted the girl seven months ago when she was bathing alone at a nullah near her village. The six allegedly sexually assaulted her and then threatened her against revealing the incident to anyone,” said an official of Gunupur police station.
Though the victim, one of the four daughters of a daily wage labourer and tribal from Sabar community, was pregnant, the accused allegedly kept sexually assaulting her. “There was not much change in the victim’s physical appearance despite her being six months pregnant. It was only when the girl started vomiting frequently that her mother sensed something amiss and got her tested. The girl then revealed the name of the accused,” said Ramesh Nayak, district child protection officer of Rayagada. The girl is now stable.
However, the people in the victim’s village wanted to hush up the matter and had called a meeting. But when the DCPO visited the girl’s father, he agreed to lodge an FIR against the accused, all in the age group of 22-45 years.
According to the 2018 National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, 1427 cases of rape of minors were registered in Odisha.
Source: Hindustan Times
