Odisha: Nayagarh minor girl was 'sexually assaulted' before murder
BHUBANESWAR: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has found that the five-year-old girl from Nayagarh, whose skeletal remains were recovered in Jadupur village on July 23, was allegedly sexually assaulted before being brutally murdered.
Sources said the frock belonging to the minor victim bore semen stain which points to the five-year-old girl being subjected to sexual assault. The SIT probe also found that a part of the clothing of the victim was missing.
Earlier in the day, the SIT submitted its first status report before the Orissa High Court. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for December 24.
The revelations give the sensational incident a fresh turn because Nayagarh police's investigation did not point at sexual assault based on the post mortem report.
Ever since the parents of the victim attempted to immolate themselves before the State Assembly during its winter session on November 24, the case has snowballed into a political storm.
With Opposition demanding the resignation of Agriculture Minister Arun Sahoo alleging his role in giving protection to the accused, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ordered an SIT probe on November 27. IG-ranked officer Arun Bothra was appointed as the head of the task force.
During its investigation, the SIT recorded statements of more witnesses and even collected blood samples of at least 34 villagers. It also collected the post-mortem and forensics reports along with other documents for further probe.
The development assumes significance as the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had earlier noticed irregularities in the probe carried out by the local police. “Prima facie we found glaring gaps in the probe carried out by the district police into the murder of the minor girl,” NCPCR Chairperson Priyank Kanoongo had told TNIE.
The victim's father Ashok Sahoo has been claiming that his daughter's eyes were gouged out and kidneys were removed after her murder. He had lodged a complaint after the girl went missing on July 14. With the help of VHF waves and sniffer dogs, the skeletal remains of the victim packed in a bag were traced to the backyard of her house after nine days.