Four detained and one police officer suspended in nun rape case

Bhubneshwar: Indian authorities arrested four people and suspended a police officer on Friday following a medical report indicating a Catholic nun was likely raped in an attack by a Hindu mob during religious clashes, a state government spokesman said.

The government of eastern Orissa state also ordered an investigation by a senior police officer into the incident, said Chittaranjan Pati, the spokesman for the state's top elected official.

The nun filed a police complaint on August 25, alleging she was raped when a large Hindu mob attacked a prayer hall in Orissa state's Kandhamal district where she worked. She told the police she was paraded naked after the rape.

The state government suspended police inspector K.N. Rao for not acting promptly on the complaint, Pati said.

"Strict action will be taken against those who have committed this shameful and savage crime," Navin Patnaik, the state chief minister, said.

Patnaik ordered the probe as Christian leaders accused the federal government and the state government of not doing enough to end attacks by Hindu hard-liners.

Doctors conducted a medical examination after the nun filed the complaint in August, but police did not receive the report until Thursday, Rao said. He blamed the local hospital for not sending police the report sooner.

Signs and symptoms

Rao said that "the doctors say there are signs and symptoms of rape," but he had not read the entire medical report.

News reports yesterday said the medical report had confirmed the rape.

The nun did not name her attacker in the complaint, Rao said. The doctors, however, put the blame on police for not collecting the report.

"We prepared the report immediately and called up the inspector the next day and even sent a reminder to him to collect the report," Sangeeta Mishra, one of the doctors who examined the nun told The Indian Express newspaper.

The doctor could not immediately be reached for independent verification.

Other details were not immediately available.

Clashes between Hindus and Christians in Kandhamal district began August 24 following the killing of a Hindu religious leader. At the time, police blamed Maoist rebels active in the area, but conservative Hindu groups blamed Christian residents and set fire to a Christian orphanage.

The violence then escalated as Hindu mobs attacked churches, shops and homes.

According to the state government, 32 people have died in the ensuing violence. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India has said at least 40 Christians have been killed.

Early Thursday, the violence spread to Kandhamal's neighbouring district of Boudh where a group of nearly 150 people torched over 100 houses, according to local police.