A three-member Special Investigation Team formed by the Orissa High Court started its investigation into the Kunduli gang-rape case in Odisha’s Koraput district on Monday.
The SIT comprises southern range (Berhampur) Deputy Inspector General of police, Satyabrata Bhoi, northern range (Sambalpur) DIG Himanshu Lal and south-western range (Koraput) DIG Shefeen Ahmed K.
At its first meeting held at the office of the southern range DIG in Koraput, the team met the mother, brother and aunt of the victim. The SIT team also questioned the then inspector in-charge of Pottangi police station, Dev Kumar Gomango.
On October 10, 2017, the 15-year-old girl had alleged that she had been gang-raped by four armed persons dressed in uniforms of paramilitary forces near Kunduli under Pottangi police station limits. She had later killed herself at her home in Musaguda on January 22, 2018. On November 8, 2017, the Odisha government had ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident by a sitting district judge. A parallel inquiry by the State Crime Branch was also ordered. But to date the accused have not been identified.
On November 19 this year, the Orissa High Court had constituted a SIT to look into the investigation conducted by the State CID-Crime Branch and submit a report to the court. The High Court was hearing two separate PILs, one filed by former Lok Sabha MP Kharavela Swain and another by the mother of the victim seeking a CBI investigation.
