Where is the nun? police, church have no idea

Bhubaneswar, Oct 8 (PTI) Though five persons have been
arrested for the alleged rape of a nun in riot-hit Kandhamal,
the Orissa police found it tough in tracing her and finally
asked its all-women team to return from Delhi Wednesday after
a futile search there.

Official sources said, "We have been unable to trace the
alleged rape victim so far. The police had formed three teams
to trace the nun," Home Secretary T.K. Mishra told P.T.I.

He said efforts were on to contact the nun who had lodged
a First Information Report (F.I.R.) alleging rape during the
Orissa bandh on August 25.

Mishra said the government had already urged the church
leaders to cooperate with the police to carry forward
investigation so that the culprits could be punished.

"But we have not received any response from anybody," he
said.

The police had meanwhile searched the nun at her native
village in Sambalpur district and another all-women team
headed by Inspector General (I.G.) rank officer B. Radhika
also failed to get any trace on the whereabouts of the nun.

"We are planning to send another team to Kerala," a
senior home department official said, adding that the
government had reiterated its appeal to the alleged victim to
cooperate in investigation.

"We have assured the nun and others in the community of
all kinds of security, if they come forward to cooperate in
the investigation," Director General of Police (D.G.P.)
Manmohan Praharaj told P.T.I.

He said the police could make arrangements for speedy
completion of investigation into the matter.

Superior-General of the Missionaries of Charity Sister
Nirmala after meeting Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had said
that the nun would be "found" if proper atmosphere is
provided.

While the government had no information on the
whereabouts of the nun, the Catholic Church leaders also
expressed their helplessness in tracing her.

"I do not know the whereabouts of the nun. However, I can
say that she is in a state of shock and yet to recover from
the ordeal she faced in Kandhamal," Father Joseph Kalathil,
the parish priest and Vicar-General of the Bhubaneswar
Catholic Church, told P.T.I.

Condemning the incident, another minority community
leader Swarupananda Patra said he was not aware of the
whereabouts of the nun.

While a rumour in the state capital was that the nun is
very much in Bhubaneswar, Commissioner of Police B.K. Sharma
denied it.

"The nun is not in Bhubaneswar, I can assure you," Sharma
said adding the police had provided security to all the
institutions run by the Missionaries of Charity here.

A top police officer in the crime branch said the
presence of the nun is essential for conducting a test
identification parade as the alleged victim had told a private
TV channel that she can identify the culprits.

"Probe in the case will be severely affected if she does
not turn up," he said. PTI AAM
PMR