57-year-old man held for raping minor in Odisha

JAJPUR: A 57-year-old man was arrested on Sunday for allegedly raping an eight-year-old girl at a village within Bari-Ramachandrapur police limits in Jajpur district on October 23.

Police identified the suspect as Arakhita Parida, a neighbor of the victim.

According to the victim’s mother’s complaint, Parida allegedly lured her daughter by promising to show her a mongoose at his home and allegedly raped her. After returning home she became ill and was unstable. She was rushed to Bari-Ramachandrapur Community Health Center (CHC) by her family where she narrated the entire ordeal to her mother.

Following the complaint, the police registered a case and initiated an investigation into the matter. They detained Parida’s relatives for questioning. The accused, who was at large after committing the crime, was eventually caught hiding in the house of a medicine shop owner in Pattamundai in the early hours of Sunday.

“We have arrested the accused and conducted his medical examination at the hospital,” said Jajpur SP Yash Pratap Shrimal.

The victim is currently undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit of the SCB medical college and hospital, where she was shifted from the CHC after her condition deteriorated.