Raped Orissa nun speaks out her sordid tale

New Delhi, Oct 24 (IANS) With a scarf covering her head and face, a sobbing nun who was allegedly raped by a mob in Orissa's Kandhamal district, Friday appeared before the media to relate her sordid tale and lamented the state police's failure to help her.

Visibly shaken and seemingly not in a state to take any queries, she read out her own hand written statement giving vivid details of the incident. She left soon after that.

The Archbishop of Cuttack, Raphael Cheenath, who had recently moved the Supreme Court seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), saying that the nun had lost faith in the state police, also accompanied her in the conference. He also did not entertain any questions.

In her written complaint in the district on Aug 26, two days after the incident, the nun alleged that a mob of about 40 to 50 armed men attacked a house at K. Nuagaon village where she along with a priest, Father Thomas Chellantharayil, had taken shelter after their centre was attacked.

The mob dragged her and the priest and took them to the deserted office of an NGO where she was allegedly stripped and raped. The priest was doused with petrol and beaten up.

They also paraded her naked on the streets, she alleged, saying that the incident occurred in the presence of a dozen policemen.