Bhubaneswar, Sep 6 (PTI) A 13-year-old was raped at her residence here by her mother's colleagues and a policeman among others during the March-April lockdown and the police have launched a manhunt for the accused, police said.
At least seven persons were involved in this heinous act and the mother's colleagues are absconding, Bhubaneswar deputy commissioner of police U S Dash said on Sunday.
The complaint on the sordid incident was filed by the girl's mother, who is an employee of a leading private TV channel here, at the Info-city police station here, he said adding the case was shifted to Mahila police station on August 30.
Two of girl's tormentors were colleagues of her mother. They were emboldened by the woman's engagement in the office for long hours due to the lockdown, the complaint said.
While the girl stays with her mother in a rented house at the Info-city, her father and other members of the family stay at their native place at Kendrapara, over 85 km from here, it said.
The two employees of the TV channel came to the house when the woman was in office and raped her daughter. They also threatened to kill her if she divulged the incident to anyone, the complaint said.
The girl maintained her silence for some days and finally spoke to her mother about the incident in April. When the woman confronted the two men in the office, she too was threatened that the girl would be killed.
Fearing for their lives, the mother and the daughter fled to their Kendrapara home. They returned to the city in August and filed the complaint with the police, it said.
The police have recorded the victim's statement under Section 161 and Section 164 of CrPC and conducted the medical examination of the girl on Friday.
In her statement, the girl, a student of an English medium school, has said that her tormentors were two employees of the TV channel, two private security guards, a policeman and two others.
The DCP said a special team has been formed to identify the accused persons and the case is being probed by the inspector in-charge of Mahila police station.
A case has been registered under various sections of IPC and POCSO Act, he said.
Dash said the police have formed a special team for investigation and handed it over to Investigating Integrative Units for Crime Against Women (IUCAW).
Several raids have been conducted, but the accused are yet to be apprehended, the police said.