Cuttack: The Orissa High Court today directed the district’s Superintendent of Police to provide security to the family members of the five-year-old minor of Jadupur in Nayagarh district who was allegedly kidnapped and murdered for her organs.
The High Court issued the direction while conducting a joint hearing on two Public Interest Litigations (PILs) seeking Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the heinous and brutal kidnap and murder of the Nayagarh minor girl.
The Nayagarh SP was also directed by the High Court to submit a status report on the progress made in the investigation of the case through an affidavit.
While fixing the next date for hearing in the matter for December 16, the High Court directed the Nayagarh SP to submit the report latest by the next date for hearing.
The petitioners have prayed for a compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the family of the victim.
Two separate PILs have been filed by senior lawyer Padmalaya Mohapatra and Bharatiya Bikash Parishad.
The State Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, Director General of Police, Collector Nayagarh, SP Nayagarh, and Inspector In-Charge Nayagarh Sadar Police Station have been made parties in the case.
In the PIL filed by the Bharatiya Bikash Parishad, the petitioner has prayed for an investigation of the case through an agency that is free from external pressure. The petitioner has said that the crime is of grave nature as parents of the minor girl have alleged that their daughter was murdered for her organs.
Therefore, the matter should be thoroughly investigated despite the alleged involvement of strong and influential people or through the CBI, the petitioner has prayed.
In addition to the above, since the murdered minor girl’s family has been externed from the village and it is under mental duress, a compensation of Rs 25 be paid to the family, the petitioner has further prayed.
Similarly, the other petitioner Padmalaya Mohapatra has prayed that an independent investigation team be constituted for the probe or it should be investigated by the CBI.
Mohapatra has further prayed that the Nayagarh SP be directed to provide protection to the victim’s family and the government should provide compensation to the murdered minor girl’s family.
Worth mentioning, a five-year-old girl, daughter of an auto-rickshaw driver had reportedly gone missing while playing near her house at Jadupur village in Nayagarh district on July 14.
Later, her skeletal remains stuffed in a gunny bag were recovered from the backyard of her house nine days later.
The parents of the child had attempted self-immolation outside the Assembly alleging police inaction in the case. They accused the police of shielding the culprit as he was politically well-connected.
Her parents have alleged that their daughter was killed for her organs by prime suspect Babuli Nayak and his accomplices.
They have further alleged that Nayak is the kingpin of a child lifting racket and is involved in the human organs trade.
The Opposition was up in arms against the government on the issue, demanding a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe and the resignation of Agriculture Minister Arun Sahoo.
The State Government agreed to a probe by an SIT after state-wide public outrage over the incident.
The government has announced a five-member SIT to be headed by senior IPS officer Arun Bothra, and four other officers of the Crime Branch.
The SIT led by Bothra has already begun its probe by visiting the parents of the murdered girl and the spot from where her body parts were found packed in a gunny bag.