This story is from June 18, 2021

Odisha: ‘Nayagarh girl was raped before her murder’

A day after arresting a 22-year-old youth on charges of killing a 6-year-old girl at a village in Nayagarh district, the police on Thursday said she was raped before she was murdered. The accused, Sagar Dalai, was produced in Nayagarh court on Thursday and sent to judicial custody following rejection of his bail plea.
Odisha: ‘Nayagarh girl was raped before her murder’
Picture used for representational purpose only
BHUBANESWAR: A day after arresting a 22-year-old youth on charges of killing a 6-year-old girl at a village in Nayagarh district, the police on Thursday said she was raped before she was murdered. The accused, Sagar Dalai, was produced in Nayagarh court on Thursday and sent to judicial custody following rejection of his bail plea.
The incident rekindled memory of a similar alleged rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl in Nayagarh district in July last year and the subsequent statewide public outrage over the shoddy investigation by the local police.
While the government had ordered an SIT probe, the then Nayagarh SP Pratyush Diwakar was transferred amid the furore.
In the latest incident, the minor girl had gone missing on June 12. Her parents lodged a complaint with Banigochha police the same day. The police found her body near the village on Wednesday (June 16).
“Based on preliminary investigation and questioning of the villagers, we zeroed in on a youth who belonged to the victim’s village. The village has only 10 houses. During interrogation he confessed to have committed the crime. The motive of the murder was sexual assault on the minor,” Nayagarh SP Siddharth Kataria said.
Police said Dalai, who used to work in a brick kiln in Tamil Nadu before returning to the village sometime back, abducted the child after promising her chocolate. He allegedly raped her and then strangulated her to death.
The police investigation veered towards Dalai as he was often seen by villagers playing with children and showing them movies on his mobile phone. He and his brother are the only two persons who had smartphones in the village.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
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About the Author
Debabrata Mohapatra

Debabrata Mohapatra is a senior correspondent at The Times of India, Bhubaneswar. He holds a PG diploma in Journalism from Chennai and covers crime and civic issues. Debabrata spends his leisure reading and watching cricket on TV.

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