Odisha cop held for raping 13-yr-old girl

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha police on Wednesday dismissed and arrested a police inspector for raping a 13-year-old tribal girl repeatedly in the police station and getting her pregnancy terminated.

Director general of police Abhay dismissed inspector Anand Kumar Majhi of Biramitrapur police station in Sundargarh district from service after initial investigation revealed he had raped the minor at the police station in March this year. After successive assaults, the girl got pregnant and the inspector forced her to terminate the pregnancy. The 55-year-old inspector was arrested from a forest in Angul. Additional director general of police (CID) Soumendra

Priyadarshi said Majhi had kept his mobile phones switched off so tracking him had been difficult.

DGP Abhay tendered a public apology for Majhi’s act calling it “shameful”. Six persons, including the inspector, doctor and the girl’s stepfather, had been named in the FIR. The survivor had gone to visit a fair in Sundargarh district on March 25 but the event was cancelled due to the lockdown. A police patrol team found her and took her to the police station. There, Majhi raped her. After that, she was often called and raped by some policemen, including the inspector.

The matter came to light when the child was rescued by a local NGO and handed over to the district child protection officer who lodged a complaint.

The girl is at a shelter home in Bisra area of Sundargarh district.