Bhubaneswar, Dec 18 (IANS) A court in Orissa Thursday asked the crime branch to conduct an identification parade on Jan 3, 2009, of suspects in the case of a nun who was allegedly raped during communal violence in Kandhamal district in August.
The court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court, Cuttack, some 26 km from here, fixed the date and asked the investigating agency to conduct the parade inside the Choudwar jail in Cuttack district, the nun’s counsel Manas Ranjan Singh said.
“The parade would be conducted under the supervision of the sub-divisional judicial magistrate, Cuttack,” Singh said citing the court order.
The nun was allegedly attacked by a mob and raped by one of them in the district of Kandhamal. She had lodged a complaint with the police two days after the crime Aug 24.
The nun was reluctant to attend the identification parade in Kandhamal district despite orders by a local court and had earlier petitioned the high court seeking change of the venue to Cuttack.
Kandhamal district, about 200 km from here, witnessed widespread communal violence after the murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his aides at his ashram Aug 23.
While police blamed Maoists for the killings, some Hindu organisations held Christians responsible for the crime and launched attacks on the community.
At least 38 people were killed in the state and thousands of Christians forced to flee their homes after their houses were attacked by rampaging mobs. About 8,000 people are still living in government-run relief camps in the district.