Woman gang raped, murdered inside bus in Odisha; two arrested

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Athgarh, Aug 5:

A near-rerun of the horrifying  Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case of New Delhi has come to fore in Odisha with the arrest of a bus driver and its conductor.

The shocking details came to light after Banki police arrested Santosh Sahu, a bus driver and conductor Bibhuti Rout while investigating the murder of a young woman whose semi-nude body was recovered from under the bridge on river Mahanadi at Jatamundia in Banki in Cuttack district on Tuesday.

Upon recovery of the body police in the course of its preliminary investigations found out that the woman was raped before she was murdered. It also found out that the deceased young woman hailed from Gourangapur of Athgarh.

Later during investigations police came to know that the deceased had a relationship with bus driver Santosh Sahu.

Since the young woman insisted for marriage, Santosh hatched up a plan to bump her off. He asked the deceased to accompany him for a ride.

On Monday night Santosh and conductor Bibhuti raped her near Ratagarh under Athgarh block inside the bus and later murdered her by hitting her head with a spanner.  Then they carried the victim’s body on the bus about ten km away and had thrown it into the river over the bridge on Mahanadi at Subarnapur Jatamundia.

“He asked the girl to come. Then he and the bus’s conductor cum helper Bibhuti Rout have raped her. Later they have hit her with a spanner meant for replacing wheels. The impact of the hitting was so hard that her skull had cracked at several places,” said Amaresh Panigrahi, SDPO, Banki.

After committing the crime they had fled the spot, he added.

Banki police have seized the bus and kept it at the Saranda beat house.

The Scientific team of the Banki police today recovered the blood stained seat cover from the bus wherein she was raped and murdered. The team has also recovered some parts of the deceased’s skull from it.

“She had left the house at 7 in the morning on Monday to visit her uncle’s house and has not returned since then. Those who have killed her should be hanged to death,” said the victim’s mother with tears in her eyes.