Cuttack: The Catholic Church nun who was raped during the Kandhamal riots 2 years ago told the trial court here on Mnday that she had no animosity with locals as she
had little contacts with them.
She also admitted that her duty as a Church worker was
limited to far-off rural areas and therefore she had no
acquaintances with people at K Nuagaon, where the incident
reportedly took place on August 25, 2008, barely 2 days
after the killing of VHP leader Swami Laxamananda Saraswati.
Facing cross examination by defense counsels, the nun
maintained that she was wearing a saree and escaped the closed
compound of the Church having six feet high boundary wall
after she was allegedly assaulted and raped under a staircase
of Baliguda-based Jana Vikash Kendra during the communal
riots.
The cross-examination of the victim by the defense
counsel remained inconclusive and it is likely to continue
again tomorrow, sources said.
The nun also revealed that she left K Nuagaon and went
to Bhubaneswar immediately after the incident.
From Bhubaneswar, the nun travelled to Visakhapatnam,
Kerala, and Chennai by train from where she went to New Delhi
by air and addressed a press conference to highlight her
agony.
She also told the court that she was getting a monthly
remuneration of Rs 150 from the Church and had no other
sources of income.
During the cross examination, the nun also disclosed
that one of her younger sisters in the meantime has been given
appointment by the Missionary Hospital in Sambalpur where she
had joined in mid-2009.
PTI
