Rape victim: OHRC steps in, asks cops to probe

BHUBANESWAR: The Orissa Human Rights Commission (OHRC) on Monday came to the rescue of the 19-year-old girl lying comatose after an alleged gang-rape attempt in a Pipili village of Puri district. It has directed the Puri Police to investigate the matter.The victim’s father Babuli Behera had brought the girl to the Commission’s office seeking justice after the family failed to get it from all other quarters.The rights panel took cognisance of the matter and asked the IIC, Pipili Police Station, to inquire into the alleged incident which occurred in November and submit a report in three days.According to OHRC Registrar Chitta Ranjan Mohapatra, the Commission has also directed the Puri SP to ensure proper investigation.Besides, the Director (Investigation) of the rights panel was also asked to ensure that the victim gets treated at Capital Hospital where the authorities had referred her to SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, three days ago. She was immediately  admitted to the Hospital and has been kept under observation. The OHRC will also monitor the case and its investigation, Mohapatra informed.Meanwhile, Puri Police have also decided to take up investigation on its own. Puri SP Amitendra Nath Sinha said the matter will be probed by a special team. According to her father, the girl was gang-raped and subjected to serious injuries by the assailants in Pipili’s Arjunagada village. The victim is a key witness to a molestation case that had occurred four years back in the area.On Saturday, Behera had brought her in an autorickshaw to the State Commission for Women (SCW) here. She was then taken to Capital Hospital only to be referred to SCB where the authorities turned her away. The harried father then took his daughter to a relative’s place in Dumduma here.Chairperson of the SCW Dr Jyoti Panigrahy, who had taken up the matter two days ago, also tried to arrange treatment for the victim. She visited their relative’s house on Monday.“I took up the matter with the Superintendent of SCB today and arranged her treatment but the father was not interested to go to Cuttack,” she said.