Odisha minor girl gang-rape case: Rights body asks authorities to pay Rs 5L interim compensation

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has directed the Nabarangpur district administration to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family members of a minor girl student who was reportedly gang-raped by two of her teachers at a school in November this year.

The commission has issued the order while hearing a plea filed by rights activist Prabir Kumar Das.

"This commission taking serious view of the matter hereby recommends that a sum of Rs 5,00,000 as interim compensation be paid pending for final conclusion of the trial," the OHRC order mentioned.

The commission has also directed the Nabarangpur district collector and other concerned authorities to pay the balance of Rs 5,00,000 to victims parents if the accused are pronounced guilty by the court after completion of the trial.

The authorities have also been instructed to make the payment to the minor victim's father and mother jointly and ensure that Rs 3 lakh out of the interim compensation amount be kept in a fixed deposit account in any nationalised bank.

Notably, the petitioner informed the commission that the 13-year-old girl was allegedly sexually abused by the headmaster and a junior teacher of her school on the school premises in Raighar block of the tribal-dominated district November 7.

The minor girl developed severe pain following which she narrated her ordeal before her parents who subsequently rushed her to the nearby community health centre (CHC) and also lodged a complaint with the police on November 9. The doctors at the CHC who claimed that the girl might have been sexually assaulted later referred her to the district headquarters hospital.

Soon after the complaint, the police registered a case under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code and 6 of the POCSO Act and arrested the accused teachers.