Minor tribal girl raped, murdered in Odisha’s Rengali

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Rengali, Feb 28:

A minor tribal girl was allegedly raped and murdered in a forested area under Rengali block in Odisha’s Sambalpur district on Friday. However, her escort managed to escape the trap laid by the rapist, police said.

The class VIII girl student from Dhodachuan village in Bomoloi panchayat under Rengali block had recently started working in a brick kiln near Pandaloi in Bandabahal area to support her poor family.

Yesterday, the girl, along with a 22-year-old girl, had gone to the brick kiln to collect her wages. While returning from the brick kiln at around 2.30 pm, a youth intercepted them at the forested thoroughfare hardly 200m from the kiln and asked the minor to follow his instructions leading towards the brick kiln area. After a while, the man tried to take the minor girl into his clutches.

A scuffle ensued and she managed to free herself from the tormentor. However, she was unlucky enough to be chased down and overpowered by the accused.

The accused raped the tribal girl and strangulated her to death before fleeing the scene in a hurry out of fear..

While leaving the crime scene in panic, the accused, however, left behind two mobile phones, a bi-cycle with a Sambalpuri saree stuffed in the rear rack and a jacket lying on the ground.

The girl who had accompanied the deceased narrated the sequence of events to the villagers who then reached the spot at around 5 pm and found the body in the forested area.

The police reached the spot and have begun investigating into the matter.

‘‘We have seized the mobile phones, bi-cycle and the jacket from the spot. Prima facie, it appears to be a case of rape and murder but the exact reason will be known after autopsy,’’ Rengali police station IIC Mihir Panda said.

The accused is on the run and all efforts are on to nab the culprit, police said.