2008 Kandhamal nun gangrape case: One jailed for 11 years, 2 others 3yrs

mangaloretoday.com / CNN- IBN

Bhubaneswar, March 14: The district court in Cuttack on Friday convicted three persons and acquitted six in the 2008 Kandhamal nun gangrape case. Prime accused Mitu Patnaik has been sentenced to 11 years imprisonment and the remaining two convicts have been sentenced to 2 years imprisonment.

 

The nun was allegedly gangraped on August 25, 2008 at Baliguda in Kandhamal district of Odisha, two days after the communal riots broke out in the district following the killing of VHP leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four of his supporters.

While ten people were accused in the case, nine were arrested and one is still absconding. Eight of the nine people arrested were out on bail while Mitu Patnaik is still lodged in Choudwar jail.

The case had been transferred to the district and sessions judge court, Cuttack, in 2010 on directions of the Odisha High Court after the alleged survivor had expressed apprehensions over fair trial and threat to her life if it was held in Kandhamal. A total of 29 witnesses from the prosecution side were cross examined in the court.

The court conducted cross examination and deposition of witnesses in 12 phases