Minor girl 'raped, murdered' in Odisha's Balasore, youth detained

A minor girl was allegedly raped and later murdered at Bhogarai area in Balasore. The deceased's family has accused a group of youths of being responsible for the crime.

The family members have accused a group of men of sexually assaulting the girl and subsequently killing her. Among the accused is a youth identified as Basanta Majhi, who has been detained by the police. A case has been registered, and further investigation is underway.

According to the allegations made by the family, Basanta, along with some of his accomplices, raped the girl and then murdered her. The family further claims that after committing the crime, the accused tried to portray the incident as a case of suicide in an attempt to mislead investigators.

The deceased’s brother said, “We have accused Basant Majhi of the crime because some time ago, he had made inappropriate gestures towards my sister. She had informed our mother about it. Our mother told her not to take any action since none of us were around, assuming he might have done it unintentionally. She said if he did it again, we would go and lodge a police complaint. But before anything more could happen, she was raped and murdered by him. Now, her murder is being portrayed as suicide.”

“Our sister is no more, but we want justice to be served to her,” he added.

The local police are continuing their probe into the matter. Upon receiving a formal complaint from the deceased's family, the police have detained Basanta Majhi and questioning him.

Sriballabha Sahoo, IIC, Bhogarai Police Station said, “We have filed a complaint regarding the rape and murder of the minor girl. The girl’s family found her hanging at around 11:30 pm on Tuesday night and took her to the hospital. The family is from Lakhmipatna village. On Wednesday evening, the deceased’s brother visited us and filed a complaint stating that the accused and his accomplices had gang-raped and murdered her. The suspected individuals have been detained for questioning.”