Report confirming nun’s rape sits for 38 days before Orissa police pick it up

The Indian Express accessed the FIR (written in English) which the nun filed (Case no 70/2008) with the local Baliguda police station on August 26. The FIR reads: “…40 armed men arrived at Divyajyoti Pastoral Centre on August 24, me and the Father (Father Thomas) jumped over the boundary and ran to a nearby forest. They were shouting Bharat mata ki jai. They burnt the centre…The next day, we concealed ourselves in the house of Prahallad Pradhan of K Nuagaon but at 1 pm the mob found us and dragged me and Father out. They took me to Jan Vikash (a local Christian NGO that was deserted) and made me naked. There one of them raped me. After that, they paraded me naked on the street and took me to an official at K Nuagaon.”

The nun did not name anyone but said she could identify the victims if they were brought before her. The incident occurred while 12 policemen of Orissa State Armed Police — wielding SLRs — camped in a school in front of the NGO.

Two doctors of Baliguda sub-divisional hospital, who examined the victim at 8.45 pm on August 25, in their report confirmed that the nun was raped. There were also nailmarks on the victim’s breasts indicating sexual assault.

“We prepared the report immediately and called up the inspector over phone the next day and even sent a reminder to him to come and collect the report as is the practice in all rape cases,” Sangeeta Mishra, one of the two examining doctors, told The Indian Express.

But the Baliguda police station inspector-in-charge K Narayan Rao did not collect the report from the hospital until this morning, just hours before the newly appointed Director General of Police Manmohan Praharaj visited the thana.

Asked why it took him so long to pick up the report and start the investigation, Rao said: “I was very busy maintaining law and order. I have just one sub-inspector and 13 constables at my disposal. For me, maintaining law and order was first priority.”

The Hindu couple, Prahallad Pradhan and his wife — Pradhan is a retired government head clerk — who sheltered the victim and Father Thomas in their house, told The Indian Express today how the mob almost burnt the priest and the nun before the rape. “They wore saffron headbands and surrounded me from all sides shouting slogans. Then they dragged the Father and the nun from one of my rooms and started pouring kerosene on both of them when my wife pleaded with them. One of the youths went inside my home looking for the Bible and even mistook a dictionary for the Bible. The youths, however, left our house taking the two to Jan Vikash,” said Pradhan.

In two other FIRs (Case no 69/2008 and 71/2008 with Baliguda police station) lodged by Father Thomas, he has detailed how the mob assaulted him. “They tore off the sister’s blouse and began assaulting her. When I objected, they hit me with an iron rod on my right shoulder, pulled me out, poured kerosene all over me and pulled out a box of matches. They were debating how and where to burn us, some suggesting we should be burnt alive in the middle of the road. I was made to kneel down on the road. Then we were paraded naked for half a kilometre up to Nuagaon block. We walked with folded hands as they assaulted us. The police were silent.”

Senior police officials, including Kandhamal district Superintendent of Police Praveen Kumar, said the investigation into the rape could not progress due to absence of the nun from the area. “It’s a shameful incident. I know the victim is scared for her life. But the place where the rape happened has been locked since the day of the incident and she is also absent. For us, maintaining law and order is very important at this point of time. But we will give high priority to the rape investigation and action will be taken as per law,” Kumar told The Indian Express.