Police team fails to trace nun

The special police team headed by Inspector General of Police B Radhika on Wednesday came back to Orissa after failing to trace the nun, who was allegedly raped at a village of Kandhamal district during the riots in August.

The 29-year-old nun continued to give the police the slip, frustrating all attempts of the state Government to get her for the test identification parade of the five arrested in the case. The repeated requests to church leaders to trace the victim have also failed to have any impact. Earlier, another team of the police had visited the victim’s native place in Sambalpur district of the state, but her parents said she had not turned up there either. The nun, who surfaced through interviews to TV channels, said she could identify her rapists.

She has not named her assailants in the FIR filed by her at Baliguda police station of Kandhamal district. The CID which is probing the case said the case could not move forward if the victim did not turn up. “How long can we keep the accused in custody?” asked a police officer.