The search for the nun who was raped by a member of a Hindu mob during the violence in Kandhamal proved fruitless for the second day, even as the Orissa Government on Monday sent a team — led by the Inspector General of the state Criminal Investigation Department Arun Kumar Ray — to New Delhi to locate her. The 29-year-old Catholic nun, an administrator in a pastoral training centre that functions under the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Diocese in Kanjamendi village of Kandhamal district, was allegedly raped on August 25. She went missing since August 26, but spoke to a few TV channels on Saturday claiming that she could identify her attackers. Additional Resident Commissioner of Orissa, M Satyanarayana, who was tipped that the nun was present somewhere in Delhi’s Gole Market, however, failed to trace her on Sunday. “By the time I reached there, she was gone. Even the Archbishop of Delhi could not provide any clue about her whereabouts,” Satyanarayana told The Indian Express. “We are appealing to her to contact us. We expect that she will cooperate with us,” said Satyanarayana.IG Arun Kumar Ray reached Delhi on Monday evening to join the search for the victim. The CID, which has taken charge of the case, has also requisitioned the help of the Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Diocese, Raphael Cheenath, now in Delhi, to help reach the victim. An official said the director of the pastoral centre, Father Thomas Chellan, continued to stonewall the CID team’s efforts in finding the nun. The priest had said that the victim could be in Kottayam. Meanwhile, state Home Secretary T K Mishra said the CID would also seek help from the nun’s family. “The Government will bear all the expenses of the nun’s family, if they come forward to help in tracing her,” Mishra said.The CID is now planning to arrest two more villagers in the case apart from four others who were arrested two days ago and charged with rioting. So far, more than 480 people in Kandhamal have been arrested for arson, rioting and other offenc)es, while over 300 FIRs have been lodged.
