A 28-year-old nun was kidnapped and raped for a
week by a group of men in Bamunigam, Kandhamal District (Orissa).
She was held
between 5 and 11 July, but the case was made public only today.
"The
perpetrators must be brought to justice without delay and the law must take its
course. What happened is a disgrace," said Mgr John Barwa SVD, archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar, who
condemned the attack.
The nun, a Kandhamal native, lives in Chennai (Tamil Nadu), where she is studying
in college.
According to her testimony to police, she received a phone call
from a woman about two weeks ago, who reported that her mother was very sick.
On 5 July, she took a train to Bamunigam, where two cousins and some
friends were waiting to take her home.
However, rather than take her to the
village of Minapanka, the men led her to a still unidentified place. Here the
sister was gang raped for a week.
On 11 July, the attackers left the sister at Berhampur train station,
threatening her not to tell anyone about what had happened. The victim managed
to reach her village where on 13 July she filed an official complaint.
For now, police arrested her cousin, Jotindra Sobhasundar, and Tukuna
Sobhasundear, a friend. The other attackers are nowhere to be found.
The nun received medical assistance and tomorrow her superior will visit
her.
According to her brother, the violent act might have been triggered by
"family reasons".
Last year, an uncle was killed by Maoist guerrillas, and his children (the
nun's cousins) accused her family of being involved in the murder.