Kunduli rape case: Odisha govt tables action taken report in Assembly

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government tabled the action taken report on the sensational Kunduli gang-rape case in the Assembly today. Minister of State for Home Dibya Shankar Mishra tabled the much-awaited report.

The State Government, in January 2018, had appointed the District Judge, Koraput as Commission of Inquiry. The Commission had submitted its report to the state government on September 20, 2018.

The Minister stated that delay (in tabling the action report) has occurred due to processing and examining the report at various stages and on account of taking action and printing of the report.

The government has accepted two recommendations of the commission of inquiry which had probed the alleged incident of kidnapping, sexual assault and suicide of a minor girl of Musaguda in Koraput, an official statement said this evening.

After being examined in the Home Department, the report was accepted by the Government excepting one recommendation of the Commission regarding removal of the statue of the victim from Kunduli Chowk, it said.

As per the recommendations of the Commission, the State Police Headquarters has been requested to issue strict instructions to all the investigating agencies to take all necessary steps during investigation to hide the identity of the victim of sexual assault as required under law.

It has been instructed to all concerned that any District or State Authority should not make the progress of investigation public in front of media before the investigation is over, especially in cases of sexual assault, the statement added.

The probe panel also questioned the role of victim’s family, saying they were not satisfied with the investigation due to reasons best known to them and instead of being cooperative, they leveled frivolous allegations against them.

The commission of inquiry has recommended that identity of victim should be kept hidden, progress of probe should not be disclosed to media before its completion, statue of the victim girl should be removed.

On Friday, the Orissa High Court ordered the crime branch of the state police to submit the final report on the 2017 Kunduli gangrape case within four weeks after completing the investigation.

The Class IX student had alleged that she was gang-raped by a group of security personnel on October 10, 2017 while returning from school. The incident triggered a massive outrage in the state.

A case under Sections 376 (D) and 377 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act was registered.