Phulbani: A minor girl was allegedly gang-raped by two youths in front of her physically-challenged father in a forested area in the Daringbadi police station jurisdictions of Kandhamal district on Sunday.

One of the perpetrators of the crime was later caught by local people. The accused, Lipun Naik, was critically injured and shifted to MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur after the agitated people beat him black and blue.

The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon when the girl, accompanied by her father, was walking home from a relative's house from a nearby village. The accused persons later waylaid them and dragged both to the nearby forest.

As the handicapped man tried to confront the duo, they beat him up badly. The criminals later tied him to a tree and raped the girl by turn in front of him.

The girl's father had tried to raise an alarm by shouting at the top of his voice.

But, it had failed to arrest attention of others as the crime was committed in a dense forest, the police said, quoting the contents of the first information report (FIR) lodged by the man.

The girl and his father knew both the criminals.

On returning home, the father-daughter duo narrated the incident to the fellow villagers. While the man went to the police station, along with some fellow villagers, to lodge an FIR, tension erupted at the village.

Then a mob from the girl's locality rushed to Lipun's village and managed to apprehend him. They meted him out mob justice.

"One of the accused, who has been hospitalised following mob attack, has been arrested. Search is on to nab his accomplice," said a police official.

The accused and the girl have been medically examined. The girl's statement was recorded under section 164, CrPC.

A case under Indian Penal Code sections 376 (rape), 557 (assault or criminal force in attempt wrongfully to confine a person), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation) and sections 4 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act, 2012, has been registered in this connection.

Sexual abuse of minor girls are being frequently reported in the recent months, triggering a statewide furore.

Kandhamal district has registered 17 cases of sexual abuse of minors since the past two months. Of it, eight are rape cases, while nine cases pertain to molestation.

According to findings by the district police, the offenders in most of the cases of child abuse were either known to the girl or people living on the neighbourhood.

Stove burst

A 16-year-old girl died when a kerosene stove burst at a house at Bangali Sahi village in Anandpur police station area on Sunday night.

The victim, Rashmita Barik, suffered nearly 80 per cent burns. She was rushed to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack in a critical condition, where she succumbed to her injuries later.

"The mishap took place when the victim was cooking on the stove. The burst occurred due to kerosene leakage from the stove," said an investigating officer.