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Bhubaneswar: The police said on Sunday they would probe allegations that a Hindu woman was raped and burnt alive by a rampaging mob during the communal violence that erupted after the killing of a Hindu leader in Orissa.
T.V. Peter, procurator of the Sambalpur diocese in the western part of the state, alleged on Saturday that Rajani Majhi was gangraped and burnt alive by a mob at a church-run orphanage in Padampur town in the district of Bargarh, some 430 kilometres from here, on August 25.
"The mob thought she was Christian but actually she was a Hindu and had been adopted by a childless couple. She was working in the orphanage," said Peter.
The priest alleged that police remained mute spectators instead of rescuing the victims.
Deputy inspector general of police Y.B. Khurania said: "Police have arrested 20 people on charges of rioting, arson and murder in this case." The arrested are under judicial custody, he added.
"Two policemen were at the site and they were also assaulted. It was because of them that the priest [Father Sequiera] was rescued," he said. The police have registered a case on the basis of the written complaint filed by the assaulted constables, he said.
The post-mortem and medical examination of the woman found no evidence of rape, the official said.
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