Accused of violating the Juvenile Justice Act, police today claimed that the third accused in the July 28 alleged rape and fatal burning of a minor dalit girl was an adult as per the ossification bone test.
"We conducted the ossification bone (age determination) test of the third accused at district headquarters hospital here. As the test showed he was not a minor, he was remanded him in jail following rejection of bail plea," police said.
Human Rights activists, however, claimed that all the three alleged offenders were minors as per their school certificates.
Chief District Medical Officer Shantilata Sharma, however, maintained that the headquarters hospital here was not equipped with age determination test facility as it did not have an orthopaedic specialist to conduct the specialised test.
The14-year-old tribal girl was raped and set afire on July 28 in Kendrapara district and she died on August 9 in hospital.
