13-yr-old raped repeatedly by cops at Odisha's Birmitrapur police station; state DGP apologises to survivor, suspends accused

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha police on Wednesday tendered an apology to a minor rape survivor who was allegedly sexually assaulted by police personnel including the inspector-in-charge (IIC) of a police station. The IIC of Birmitrapur police station was placed under suspension on June 26 for his alleged involvement in the rape and abortion of the 13-year-old girl, police said. He was dismissed from service by DGP Abhay on Wednesday, they said. “His conduct was shameful. Our apologies to the young girl,” the DGP tweeted. The DGP had on Tuesday ordered a Crime Branch probe into the incident. A four-member team of the Crime Branch visited Birmitrapur and Raiboga police stations in Sundargarh district as part of the investigation. The inspector and some policemen are accused of raping the girl over a period of four months while a government doctor is accused of terminating her pregnancy at Birmitrapur Community Health Centre on June 15, the police said. According to a complaint lodged by the district child protection officer of Sundargarh district, the girl had gone to visit a fair at Biramitrapur on March 25 but the event was cancelled due to the lockdown. A police team on patrol duty found the girl roaming near a bus stand after she failed to return home from Biramitrapur. When she was brought to the police station, the inspector allegedly raped her and released her the next morning, the complaint said. After that she was often called to the police station and allegedly repeatedly raped by some policemen, including the inspector. The girl became pregnant after which her foetus was aborted, the complaint said. Six persons, including the inspector, doctor and the girl’s stepfather, have been named as accused in the FIR. Kavita Jalan, the deputy inspector general of police (Western Range), is supervising the case.