4-year-old girl allegedly sexually assaulted and killed in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar

Police said the girl used to call the accused as uncle who would often offer her chocolates and they suspect that the child may have been lured by him into his on Monday and then sexually assaulted

Published on: Nov 7, 2023, 18:10:28 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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The Odisha Police on Tuesday mounted search for a man who allegedly sexually assaulted and killed a four-year-old girl in a slum in Bhubaneswar on Monday night.

Police said they have intensified the search for the accused. (Representative Image)

Police officials said they have intensified search for Surendra Das, a man who recently came out from a drug deaddiction centre at Kela slum under Airfield police station area, over suspicions that he allegedly raped and murdered the minor girl.

“The girl was last seen with Surendra Das who had offered her a bar of chocolate. Her parents, who work as daily labourers, did not find her in the evening. After searching for some time, her family members found her body from under the bed of Das. When her body was recovered, Das fled the slum,” said Ashok Kumar Nayak, inspector of Airfield police station.

Police said the girl’s neighbours found her in a pool of blood with cut marks on her neck. She was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared her ‘brought dead’.

“The girl used to call the accused as uncle who would often offer her chocolates. We suspect that the child may have been lured into the accused’s house on Monday evening too and then sexually assaulted,” said a neighbour of the accused.

Police officials said they are waiting for the autopsy report of the victim to add the charges of sexual assault against Das.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More