TV
In a disturbing case from Odisha’s Angul district, a minor girl staying in a government hostel was allegedly raped by her stepfather after he took her home under the guise of a family emergency. The incident came to the fore after an FIR was lodged on Tuesday.
This has sparked outrage in the local community, with residents seeking police action.
Also Read: Minor girl raped in Odisha’s Koraput, receives death threat to remain silent
According to sources, the shocking incident has surfaced from Pallahada block, where the minor girl was sexually assaulted by the accused man after being taken home from her residential school. The man took advantage of her loneliness at home and raped her.
As per an FIR, the girl’s mother, a native of Basupali village in Deogarh district, had married Dasarathi Das, a man from Tensa locality in Keonjhar, in her second marriage.
The victim, a minor from her first marriage, had been studying at Jamaradiha Kanyashram, a government-run girls’ hostel. On August 15, the stepfather reportedly informed the school authorities that the girl’s mother was unwell and took the girl with him to Tensa. Later, the minor alleged that her stepfather raped her when no one else was present at home.
The next day, the accused returned the girl to her hostel as if nothing had happened.
Subsequently, the traumatised girl called her mother over the phone and disclosed her plight. Shocked by the revelation, the woman rushed to the Kanyashram and met her daughter. Following this, she filed a complaint at the local police station seeking justice.
Police have since detained the accused man and are questioning him. A ‘Zero FIR’ (allows a victim to file a First Information Report (FIR) at any police station, regardless of where the crime occurred) has been lodged in this connection, and a detailed probe has been initiated.
The victim, her mother, and the accused stepfather have been taken to Lahunipada Police Station for further investigation. Police authorities say a detailed probe is underway, and necessary legal actions will follow based on the medical report and testimonies.
“After my daughter’s first husband died, she got married to another man. She had a minor girl from her first marriage. We had kept the granddaughter at a residential school for her studies. The girl’s stepfather brought her home from school on August 15, raped her, and dropped her at school the next day,” the victim’s maternal grandmother said.
Reported By: Rajanikant Maharana
