Bhubaneswar: Even though six months have passed since the minor girl of Kunduli alleged gang rape by four persons in uniform and two-and-a-half months have elapsed since her tragic suicide, the investigating agencies probing the matter are still clueless.
The family of the victim claimed that they are losing all hope given the tardy pace at which Crime Branch and judicial inquiry commission are investigating the incident.
"We have lost hope of justice at least during the term of the current-government. Had the government taken the matter seriously, our daughter would not have committed suicide," said aunt of the victim.
She added the government is making an attempt to suppress the voices of those who are trying to bring the truth to fore.
On October 10, 2017, the minor girl had alleged that four persons in uniform gang raped her. Following public outcry, police probed the matter which was later handed over to the Crime Branch. In the meantime, Human Rights Protection Cell (HRPC) ADG Mahendra Pratap made a shocking revelation that the victim was not raped.
The very next day, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ordered a judicial inquiry concurrent to the Crime Branch probe.
Amid all these developments, there is still no information about the mastermind or the number of persons involved in the incident.
Though the judicial inquiry commission was mandated to complete the probe in three months, its term was extended for another three months.
Startlingly though, the Crime Branch seems to be deviating from the actual direction of the investigation and is after OTV to find out from where the news channel obtained a report of the State Forensic Science Laboratory which stated that there were traces of semen of two persons on the victim's clothes. It seems that all the efforts are now directed to elicit the source from where OTV obtained the report, which was telecasted by the television channel on January 25.
"It's sad that despite six months have passed since the gang-rape neither any accused has been arrested nor the truth has come out. Besides the voice of media which is highlighting the matter is being suppressed," stated Kadambini Tripathy, chairperson of Maa Ghara in Nabarangpur.
Meanwhile, government counsel Prabhakar Pattnaik stated that he has requested the Home department and the State government officials to present the list of witnesses and other documents before the judicial inquiry commission on April 16.
"I have requested the Home department to submit the list of witnesses by April 16, 2018. We need all the documents, affidavit among others from the State government," said Pattnaik.