Sandeep Mishra/TNN
Bhubaneshwar, Nov 10: Two-and-a-half months after being allegedly raped in Kandhamal during the peak of communal conflagrations, the nun has finally agreed to cooperate with Orissa cops.
She has reportedly communicated her decision to help police in the investigation through a letter written by the archbishop of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack diocese Raphael Cheenath to the administration.
The 29-year-old nun, is, however, unwilling to appear before a court in Baliguda for test identification (TI) parade and her lawyers are likely to request the sub-divisional judicial magistrate of Baliguda on Monday to grant permission to conduct the parade elsewhere.
The SDJM, Baliguda, which is the local court in the case, had earlier issued notices to the nun to appear for TI parade on November 10. The letter written by Cheenath also mentions Christian priest Thomas Chellan (who was beaten on the day the nun was raped at K Nuagaon on August 25 will also co-operate with the police.
Both the nun and Chellan have not responded to Orissa police requests for co-operation and even blasted the cops. The nun earlier had said she didn't trust the police and demanded a CBI probe.
The Orissa government, however, has defended the ongoing crime branch inquiry on grounds that 10 people have already been arrested and six cops suspended for dereliction of duty.