Chhattisgarh, two criminals accused of the rape of a Catholic nun acquitted
The Kerala missionary was drugged and abused in June 2015. Christian leaders have denounced from the beginning the serious shortcomings in the conduct of investigations. The trial may have been compromised by the negligence of the investigators.
Raipur (AsiaNews) - A court in Chhattisgarh has acquitted two young men accused of the rape of a Catholic nun for "lack of evidence". The religious sister was drugged and abused during the night between 19 and 20 June 2015 at Christ Sahaya Kendra (Christ Support Centre ) of Raipur. The 19 year old and 25 year old Dinesh Dhurv Jitendra Pathak were released by the court because Judge Nidhi Sharma said not enough evidence was collected against them.
In all likelihood the investigations were compromised beyond repair by police, who after the discovery of the nun did not close off the crime area and did not carry out a proper forensic investigation, such as lifting evidence of the attackers from the victim's body.
The terrible religious, now 48, who belongs to the Salesian Missionaries of Mary Immaculate (SMMI), courageously told her terrible story. Two masked men broke into her room at the medical center at around 1: 30 am. When she asked them if they wanted money, they replied: "We want something more." At that point one of them blocked her, while the other forced her to ingest the drugs and gagged her with a rag. Then the attackers tied her to the bed with her sari and used a scarf to tie her hands, before taking turns to rape her.
The nun, originally from Kerala, was alone at the time of the attack. She was found the next day in an unconscious state by her superior, worried about not having received any reply to her calls.
The state representatives of Congress and the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum have called the incident a "systematic attack against minorities in the State". For its part, the Indian Bishops' Conference (CBCI) has reported that such incidents raise serious questions about the safety and protection of minorities in India.
Since the beginning, the Christian leaders have complained about serious shortcomings in the conduct of investigations by the investigators, who had not collected blood, urine and other fluid samples to determine the hallucinogenic substance used to dope the missionary.
Following the indignation of the entire Catholic community and the protests of the opposition parties, police questioned more than 200 people, to narrow the field to two accused, who are now once again free and at large.
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