Nun identifies two in Kandhamal rape case

A 29-year-old nun, who was gang-raped at K Nuagaon in Kandhamal district on August 25, identified two persons at a test identification parade (TI) at Choudwar jail near Cuttack, about 40 km from here, on Monday. The nun was raped during the violence that followed the murder of VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati.

“The TI was successful. The nun identified the two accused. One of them is Mitu Patnaiik, the main accused,” crime branch IG Arun Kumar Ray said.
Elaborate arrangements were made to keep the parade guarded from media glare. The nun came to the jail with police escort. The police had brought all the 10 people arrested in connection with the rape from Baliguda on Saturday and lodged them in a special cell.

The nun arrived at the jail at 1.22 pm and the parade continued for nearly two hours in the presence of a magistrate. After identifying the culprits, the nun left the place.

Though a court in Baliguda had fixed dates for the parade twice earlier, the nun had failed to turn up. She sought a change of venue for the TI saying she did not want to visit Kandhamal again. Her plea was heard by the Orissa high court which allowed the TI to be conducted in Cuttack gang-