In a startling revelation from the Crime Branch investigation of the five-year-old Nayagarh district girl Pari murder case, the girl was sexually assaulted before being killed.

Sources said that the Special Investigating Team (SIT) of the Crime Branch headed by IPS officer Arun Bothra, which is probing the case, on Wednesday informed the Orissa High Court that the girl, whose skeletal remains were recovered in the backyard of her house at Jadupur village on July 23, was sexually assaulted before being brutally killed. She was naked before being murdered. The probe status report submitted in the court by the SIT also mentioned that a stain of semen was also found on the victim’s dress during scientific examination. Blood samples of 37 persons were collected during  course of investigation, sources added.

The court will hear matter next on December 24. The High Court had during the previous hearing remarked, “It is indeed a matter of grave concern that despite the lapse of five months, the police have not been able to make any headway to nab the culprits.

 This poorly reflects on the competence of the police administration of the State. Considering that the State Government has now already constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), we direct the SIT to take effective and expeditious steps to identify and arrest the accused.”

Two separate petitions have been filed in court by lawyer Padmalaya Mohapatra and Bharatiya Bikash Parishad, respectively, seeking a CBI probe into case and compensation of Rs 25 lakh for girl’s family.