New Delhi, October 4
For the Catholic nuns at Jharsuguda district in Orissa, it has been a tough day. Forty days after one of their own, Meeta Mohanty (name changed), was allegedly raped and paraded naked by Hindu radicals in Balliguda, she was told that the authorities had finally admitted to occurrence of the crime, and asked the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate it..

The case was transferred to the CID yesterday, but the news was broken to Meeta today. Her first reaction was natural: “I am happy that something has happened in the case. But I prefer a CBI inquiry. I want the real culprit to be punished. I can identify him, though I don't know his name.”

For Meeta, it has been a long wait for justice since August 25 when she, along with Father Thomas Chellantharayil, the head of Divyajyoti Pastoral Centre in Balliguda block of Kandhamal, were pulled out of their hideouts by Hindu extremists, and brutally assaulted.

Meeta remembers how she had instinctively run to the police team standing guard, hoping to be protected. But they looked the other way as the mob dragged her and took her to a local Christian NGO, and raped her.

Still undergoing treatment for trauma, Meeta, a tribal from Sambalpur, today spoke to The Tribune over telephone about how and why she reported the crime in the first place, a decision that was hard to take.

“I spoke up so the voiceless could get a voice. Such suffering is heaped on women every day. Someone had to raise a voice so that this crime is not perpetuated. I want the culprit to be punished and I will cooperate in the investigation,” she said.

For the nuns at the commune, she is an example in courage. Her province head Sister Mary Pulickakunnel describes her as an “exceptional soul”.

“I found Meeta to be more courageous than anyone. She is conscious of her responsibility and is keen to bring the guilty to book. But for that to happen, a CBI inquiry is needed,” said Sister Pulickakunnel, a day after Rapheal Cheenath, Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar made a similar demand.

For her part, Meeta is hoping to recover so she can take her BA II exams. With a two-year theology degree in her kitty, Meeta was preparing for BA II exams when she became a victim of anti-Christian violence in Balliguda, just 15 km from Jalaspeta ashram, where VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati was killed on August 23.

“She had taken her vows only in July this year,” said Sister Pulickakunnel. Away from where Meeta is lodged, Father Thomas Chellantharayil says a CBI enquiry should be ordered in the case.

“Only yesterday, another rape was reported in Tikabali block. This shows that the local police are in no position to control violence. The CBI should be roped in,” he said, shocked at the way Orissa government has been saying it has suspended the Balliguda inspector and arrested four suspects for Barua’s rape.

Forty people attacked Meeta and Thomas Chellantharayil on August 25. But the police are yet to tell who incited the mobs. Moreover, the police took 38 days to act on the medical report confirming Meeta's rape.

“It's a strange situation in Orissa. Earlier, the mobs used to watch as the police assaulted people. Now it is the other way round,” Father Thomas said even as the Centre again rapped the Orissa government on the continuing violence in Kandhamal. A special cabinet meeting will also be called to discuss the issue.