Hindu man saved me from gangrape says nun

The 28-year-old Catholic nun who was allegedly raped during the Kandhamal violence told the Crime Branch of Orissa police that a local Hindu man saved her, while she was being sexually assaulted by the mob.

During her examination by the Crime Branch team in New Delhi, the nun said that she was raped at K Nuagaon in Baliguda during Orissa bandh on August 25, the sources said.

Though two others also molested and attempted to rape her immediately after the incident, a local Hindu man came to her rescue and saved her from being gangraped, the nun was quoted saying in a statement before the Crime Branch team.

In her written complaint filed two days after the crime of August 25, the nun said that a mob of about 40 to 50 armed men attacked a house at K Nuagaon village where she along with a priest, Thomas Chellantharayil, had taken shelter after their centre was attacked.

The mob dragged her and the priest outside the house and took them to a deserted office of an NGO where she was raped, she said.

They also paraded her naked on the streets, she said, adding that the incident occurred in the presence of several policemen.

According to sources, the nun was confident that she would be able to identify the accused, with whom she had a scuffle. However, she is reluctant to attend the Identification Parade or any court hearings in Orissa. She requested to organise it somewhere outside the state, preferably New Delhi.