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Nun gang-raped in Orissa

Bibhuti Mishra in Bhubaneswar

Unidentified men allegedly raped a Catholic nun near Basinga in Mayurbhanj district last night.

The Tamil-speaking nun, who had visited the district headquarters, Baripada, was waiting at the bus stop to return to Krishnachandrapur when an Ambassador car drew up and the persons inside offered her a lift.

But what looked like two women in the car were actually men in saris. The men gagged and blindfolded the nun and took her to Baisinga, about 45 km from Baripada. She was allegedly raped in the car there.

After the assault, the nun allegedly ran out onto the road, and climbed into a bus that was going to Krishnachandrapur. She later went to Baripada with a priest from the church and met the Mayurbhanj collector who asked her to file an FIR.

She initially requested that she not be medically examined, but an examination was conducted after the FIR was lodged.

The state home secretary said the Mayurbhanj superintendent of police is investigating the case though the nun had burnt her undergarments, which could have provided vital evidence. The police have also sealed the border and launched a combing operation in the area.

With this incident, Baripada has sprung back into the limelight; Dr Graham Stains, who was burnt alive along with his two sons in Manoharpur on January 22, was also based in Baripada and headed the leprosy home there.

The home department has dismissed the possibility of this being yet another act directed against Christians.

"We don't think so. Anyway, let's wait for the investigation to be over,'' a joint secretary said.

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