Case primary details

Fact finding date

Case Incident details

Case summary

Payal Digal, Aged 13 yrs, Daughter of Madan Digal

Religion: Christian, Caste: SC,

Educational status: 7^th Std,

Name of the village : Tiangia

Payal is the third child of her parents. She has two elder brothers and a younger sister. Her parents are wage laborers and reside in a rented house in Kalingavihar, Bhubaneswar. She was doing her schooling in kandhamal district. She belongs to minority dalit Christian category. During the Pooja holidays she was staying in her grandmother’s house in Tiangia.  On 24^th October, 2012 along with her aunt she went to see a drama organized in a temple at Raikia. After attending the temple festival celebration, she was returning along with her aunt to her uncle’s house at Raikia. While she was waiting for her aunt, 6 men approached her and took her to a nearby bush and raped her (three of them were adults and the other three were minor boys). They did not file the complaint immediately because of fear and stigma as well as the security reasons. The accused seemed to be released after detaining sometimes. The accused are from upper caste Hindus.

Mental Health of the girl: She was under a trauma after the incident, she looked stunt and emotionless. Her mental health has been affected badly after undergoing this traumatic experience. She could not even express her feelings. She was sent for counseling therapy and it helped her to express herself to some extent. Odisha Forum for Social Action, a voluntary organization facilitated Psycho-therapy by a professional psycho-therapist. She clarified all her doubts and concerns with regard to her physical health and about her future. It helped her to come out from her anxieties and fears to greater extent. After the psycho therapy she could identify her talents and coping capacity. She seemed to be pleasant, motivated, determined to face the future and her self confidence also has been increased. The therapist said that the child obtains high level of coping and decision making capacity, which will enable her to reintegrate herself completely to the mainstream. She needs constant handholding and counseling too.

Status of the Case:  The child was brought to women police station at Bhubaneswar. Since the Circle Inspector had gone for a meeting, the family could not lodge the complaint. From there the child was taken to child right commission and produced her before the chair-person. She was very cold and passive in her approach and asked us to file the complaint at the police station, then to produce the child before the commission. She did not attend the child with empathy. Later the child was brought to the police station; she was made to sit in the police station for 6 hours for registering the case. When the Inspector in Charge came at 8.30 pm she forwarded the complaint to Raikia police station, without registering the FIR. The following day we produced the child before Mr. P.L. Puniya, the chair person of the SC commission and Ms. Latha Priya Kumar, Honorable member of SC Commission. The commission forwarded the case to the police station and then they registered the case at Bhubaneswar women police station. Immediately the police took initiatives to take the child for medical examination. The IIC wrote a letter to Deputy Commissioner of Police and to Khurdha collectorate for compensation and education, but till today there is no action has been taken with regard to compensation and education for the child.

After the intervention of the commission, the Raikia police arrested 4 accused persons (1 adult and 3 minor) and the other two accused are still absconding. The child was brought from Bhubaneswar by police escort to Raikia for spot investigation, and the child identified the place. Second time she was brought to G. Udayagiri for TI (Test in Identification) parade. Among 4 people she identified 3 of them. Along with Odisha Forum for Social Action, Bhubaneswar the child went to khudha collectorate for compensation and rehabilitation. The status is not known on the compensation issue. The victim survivor is yet to be assisted in anyway. Nothing has come forward.

At present the child is enrolled in a convent school at Bhubaneswar and staying in private run hostel. The family is very poor and finds it very difficult to pay the school and hostel fees of the child.