3 convicted, 6 others acquitted by Sessions Court in Kandhamal nun rape case

Three persons were convicted while six others were acquitted by a Cuttack court in the nun rape case in Odisha’s Kandhamal district during the 2008 communal riots.

The Sessions Court, Cuttack which tried the case held Mitua alias Santosh Patnaik guilty of the offence punishable under section 376 of the IPC (rape), while two other accused persons Gajendra Digal and Saroj Bahdei were convicted for the offence punishable under section 354 of the IPC (outraging the modesty of a woman).

The court will next proceed to pronounce the quantum punishment for the three convicted persons in the case, which is expected soon.

The Court acquitted six other accused in the case due to lack of evidence.

The horrifying incident happened on August 25, 2008, during the course of the Kandhamal riots, at Baliguda in Kandhamal district when a nun was raped by a mob. Thirty-eight people were killed in the Kandhamal riots which occurred in the tribal-dominated district in the aftermath of the killing of VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati at his Jalespata Ashram on August 23.

The nun had alleged that she was attacked, gangraped and paraded semi-naked through the streets two days later in Kandhamal.