Orissa: Girl gangraped, killed by driver and his help

In a chilling reminder of the ghastly Nirbhaya gangrape case in New Delhi that shook the conscience of the nation, the driver and conductor of a private bus were on Friday arrested for abducting, raping and murdering a college girl.

The accused were identified as Santosh Sahu and Bibhuti Rout.

After murdering the girl by hitting her head with a blunt iron object, the accused packed her body into a sack and threw it into the Mahanadi river at Jatamundia in Cuttack district, nearly 100 km from here.

“With the arrest of the accused, the mystery behind the death of the girl, whose body was found under Jatamundia bridge under Banki police limits on August 2, has been solved. We are interrogating the accused more information and to find out if more people involved in the crime,” said Athagarh sub-divisional police officer Amaresh Panigrahi.

According to sources, the victim, a resident of Gourangpur near Athagarh in Cuttack district, was in love with driver Santosh Sahu for the last two years. As she insisted for early solemnisation of marriage, the driver hatched a plan with Bibhuti Rout.

On August 1, the accused called the girl to a particular place to discuss the marriage issue. When she arrived, they took her in the bus to Ratagarh where they raped her inside the vehicle.

“Despite the girl’s fervent requests to spare her, the accused raped her and brutally assaulted her with a wrench and iron bars. When she died due to profuse bleeding, they threw her body in the river,” the SDPO said.

“Both the accused fled the spot soon after committing the crime. After getting some specific leads about their whereabouts, we arrested them today from Athagarh area,” the police said.

The police has seized the bus, the blunt objects which were used to kill the girl, besides blood-stained clothes of the driver and the helper.