Odisha man arrested for raping and killing minor girl

BARIPADA: Tension prevailed in Kuliana block of Mayurbhanj district after a 22-year-old man allegedly raped and brutally murdered a minor seven-year-old girl from West Bengal.

The accused was identified as Rameswar Dehuri of Sankuldiha village in Kuliana police district. According to sources, the victim, a niece of the accused, hailed from Binpur in Jhargram police district of West Bengal and was staying with her family at the house of Parameswar Dehuri, Rameswar’s uncle, in Sankuldiha village for a few days. The victim and her parents had arrived on June 1 when Parameswar and his wife left for a nearby government primary school to cast their vote at noon.

At around 3 pm, Rameswar took the girl to a nearby forest near the Papala river on the pretext of hunting birds. The girl’s parents let her go with Rameswar, unaware of his intentions. However, Rameswar raped the girl and after the act strangled her to death. Rameswar then returned home and left the body on the river bank.

When the girl did not return home, her parents questioned Rameswar who said she was late as she could not keep up with him. The girl’s parents waited for a few hours and when she still did not return, they along with some villagers interrogated Rameswar who confessed to the crime. The villagers along with the girl’s parents rushed to the river bank where they found the body. In the evening, they informed the Kuliana police about the incident.

Police rushed to the scene, seized the body and sent it for post-mortem. Rameswar was arrested under sections 376 (AB), 302 of the IPC and section 6 of the POCSO Act, Kuliana IIC Priyadarshini Khatua said.