Church happy as lawyers resume work in nun rape case

(December 16, 2010) A Church official in Orissa has expressed happiness after lawyers resumed work in the nun’s rape case following assurance by the state government that their grievances would be addressed soon. “We are relieved that the prosecutors have joined the court,” Father Dibakar Parichha, who is supervising the case, told UCA News on Tuesday. Sangram Sahu and two other prosecutors handling the case joined work December 13 after the state government assured that their matter will be expeditiously sorted out. The trio had boycotted work on December 7 saying the government has not paid them their fees. The trial of the case was underway in the district session court in Cuttack, the eastern Indian state’s legal capital, when the lawyers took this step. Sahu said they will wait for another two weeks time and “will chalk out next course of action if the matter is not sorted out.” He said that one of the investigating officers of the case testified before the court December 13 and another will testify December 14. Father Parichha, however, said if the issue of the lawyers’ fees is not sorted out, it will hamper the case. “The prosecution may fail,” he added.