Cuttack: A court on Wednesday posted the hearing of
the Kandhamal nun rape case to January 17 after the
cross-examination of the investigating officer of Orissa Crime
Branch.
Dilip Kumar Mohanty, a DSP-ranked officer of Crime
Branch, was asked about the status of the alleged rape victim
in the Baliguda Catholic Church by the defence counsel and
asked whether the Crime Branch had any document or evidence to
show that the rape victim is a nun or not.
To a question whether he knows who appoints or who has
the authority to appoint one as a nun in the church, the
police officer replied in negative.
It also came to light that the Crime Branch had not found
out as to under what capacity the alleged rape victim was
working in the church and what she was doing inside the
compound where she was allegedly raped in August 2008.
Since Crime Branch took charge of the investigation after
almost more than two months of the incident, the IO had not
examined the previous IO of the case who had rejected three
FIRs of the victim.
When asked as to whether he was aware of the fact that
the FIR registered in the case was initially drafted by a
local advocate, Mohanty replied in affirmative but denied
having examined the advocate after taking charge of the case.
With the cross-examination of Mohanty remaining
inconclusive, the trial court adjourned the case for hearing
again on January 17.
PTI
