Kunduli gang-rape: NHRC to examine vital points

New Delhi [India], Feb 7 (ANI): A team from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) reached Odisha's Kunduli, on Tuesday, the place where a minor school girl was allegedly gang-raped last year, to examine several critical issues in the case.

Acting on a petition and subsequent submissions filed by social activist and Supreme Court lawyer Radhakanta Tripathy, the NHRC sent its investigation team, headed by DSP Ravi Singh, to solve the case.

Tripathy also sought heavy compensation to the victim's family and action against the errant officials.

The girl, who was studying in ninth standard, was allegedly gang-raped by four security personnel in October last year. She committed suicide on January 22.

The case took a complicated turn on November 7, when the HRPC of Odisha Police stated that as per the medical report of the victim, she had not been raped.

Following the girl's suicide, a report submitted before the NHRC by the Crime Branch Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) stated that betrayal by the deceased victim's boyfriend was the reason behind her suicide.

In its first hearing of the case filed by Tripathy, on November 23, 2017, the NHRC sought an action taken report from the Odisha DGP and asked its own investigation wing to place the facts of the case after telephonically talking to the state officials.

Citing the contents of the FIR lodged in the case, the report states that the unfortunate incident did not occur on October 9, when the victim went to take a passport photo to be submitted in Sharisapadar School, as admitted the teachers of the school.

The report further quotes the finding of all the hospitals starting from Kunduli CHC, Koraput DHH and MKCGH, Behampur that there is no sign and symptoms of recent physical relation and that the complainant's hymen was intact.

The report clearly denies the involvement of security personnel and quotes another theory involving a minor boy in love with the girl who was last seen on the spot of incident.

According to the theory, the refusal to marry the victim by her boyfriend led to the entire story of lodging the FIR with a different story of blaming COBRA Police.

Subsequently, a polygraph test of her alleged boyfriend was conducted on October 16, 2017 at FSL, Bhubaneswar. (ANI)