Shame Again! 8-year-old girl battles life after rape in Angul

Angul: An eight-year-old girl is now battling for life after a miscreant allegedly raped her in Angul in the wee hours of Sunday. As per reports, the girl was rescued in an unconscious condition from a garbage dump near Aahar centre in the town.

The survivor, who hails from Maharashtra, was sleeping with her family members on the verandah of a shop near Angul bus stand when a bike-borne miscreant abducted her. Later, the accused raped the girl and threw her near garbage dump. It is suspected that the accused also tried to kill the girl after committing the crime.

The matter came to light after the family members found the girl missing and launched a search operation in the morning. Later, they found her lying unconscious near the bus terminal and alerted police.

"My sister was sleeping with us when the man kidnapped and raped her. After we failed to locate her in the morning, we began to search for her. Later, we found her near a drain. She was bleeding profusely and was unable to talk. Stringent action should be taken against the accused for the crime,” alleged elder sister of the survivor.

The minor girl was subsequently rushed to Angul District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) for treatment. The girl has multiple injuries on her body and is stated to be critical.

“This is a shameful act and it is unfortunate such incident took at place which is close to the police station. The cops should collect strong evidences so that the accused gets death penalty,” said Debasish Mishra, a member of Child Welfare Committee (CWC).

Following the incident, senior police officials including Deputy Inspector General of Police (D.I.G.) (Northern Central Range) Narasingha Bhol and Angul SP rushed to the spot for investigation.

“The girl is undergoing treatment at the DHH. Though her health condition is stable, she is not in a position to talk. We have begun an investigation basing on the information the girl initially gave us after she was rescued. The SP is himself monitoring the case and we hope the accused will be arrested soon,” said Bhol.

Bhol further informed that the accused will be nabbed soon as they have got some vital leads in the case.

Meanwhile, two persons have been detained in connection with the incident. Further investigation is on.