The judicial commission that probed the alleged gangrape and suicide of a minor girl at Kunduli in Odisha's Koraput district, said the incident was a mystery and suggested further investigation.
The one-man commission of Koraput district & sessions judge B K Mishra in his report could not confirm if the girl was actually raped as alleged and the reason behind her committing suicide before completion of investigation.
The 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by four men in uniform while she was returning home from a market on October 10, 2017. While the police had claimed that she was not raped, the girl on December 29 had alleged that senior police officers had tried to influence her and even offered money to withdraw the case.
The state government had ordered a judicial probe into the incident on December 26, 2017. She committed suicide on January 22 last year by hanging herself.
The panel's report tabled in the Assembly on Saturday "did not rule out possibility of false implication in the case because of the fact of personal transgression and avoidance of further embarrassment of a situation best known to the deceased victim."
The cause of the "false accusations and suicide" is a mystery before the Commission and will remain as so unless unearthed by making further probe in that regard, it said.
"Now questions may arise that if there was no such incident (rape), why a minor girl at the cost of her modesty made false accusation and gave out a false story regarding sexual assault on her which subsequently resulted in commission of her suicide," the report said.
In the action taken report tabled along with the panel's report, the state government said it has accepted two of the three recommendations made by the commission.
Based on its recommendation, the government has asked the police to take stpes to protect the identity of the victims of sexual assault cases, and instructed the authorities not to make public progress of investigation in such cases before it is over.
The government, however, has not accepted the commission's third recommendation on removal of the statue of the victim from Kunduli Chowk.
The judicial commission's report was tabled in the State Assembly a day after the Orissa High Court asked crime branch of the state police to submit the final report on the Kunduli case within four weeks after completing investigation.
The high court also suggested setting up of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the incident in case the police failed to meet the deadline.
The commission submitted its 141-page report on September 20, 2018.
It is mandatory for the government to table report of a judicial commission within six months of its submission, Minister of State for Home D S Mishra said it was delayed at various stages such as processing, examining, taking action and printing the report.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
