Odisha police on Sunday arrested three persons on charges of raping and killing a 16-year-old Dalit girl, who was reported missing a month ago.
The decomposed body of the minor girl, who was missing from Sudasailo village under Govindpur police station limits of Cuttack district, was found from a paddy field. The body was buried 4 ft deep pit, said police.
“We found the body after questioning the three accused,” said Cuttack (Rural) superintendent of police, Madhab Sahu.
Police said the accused, including a tractor driver, abducted the girl on February 11 and sexually assaulted her. “They killed her after she said she would reveal their crime. The girl’s father identified her body from the jeans and kurta she was wearing when she went missing,” said Sahu. Police sent the body for post-mortem.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in its latest figures for the year 2016 put Odisha at number 3 in crimes against women, behind Delhi and Assam in terms of crime rate (number of crimes per 100,000 population). In 2016, 17,837 cases of crimes against women were reported in Odisha.
The state has one of the lowest conviction rates (6 %) in cases of crimes against women, compared to the national average of 19%, according to NCRB data.
The state topped NCRB figures in the section “assault or use of criminal force to women with intent to disrobe under section 354 B of IPC” with 2,117 cases in 2016. (HT)
