Court rejects plea for change of venue in nun rape case

The Orissa court on Friday rejected the plea for change of venue in the nun rape case after the victim failed to appear for the Test Identification Parade (TIP), citing security reasons.

The 29-year-old Catholic nun who was raped during last year's Orissa mayhem was ordered to appear for the second phase of TI parade, which was to be held at Baliguda jail on Friday.

"We had made all arrangements for conducting the TIP... but the nun did not turn up," Baliguda sub-jail Superintendent S N Rath said.

Sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM), Baliguda, G Barik, meanwhile, has fixed May 7 as the next date for the TIP. The venue would however remain the same.

Earlier, Joseph Kalathil, spokesman of the Archbishop had said that the nun would not appear at Baliguda on Friday on security ground.

The first TIP was held for 10 at Choudwar on January 5. The second TIP is a special case as it involves just one. The crime branch sources clarified by categorizing the case as special due to the person arrested being "prime accused".

The nun's counsel Manas Ranjan Singh has already questioned the choice of venue and said an appeal was already placed at the Orissa High Court, seeking transfer of the case out of Kandhamal.