Trial in the sensational attempt to murder the Baliguda Catholic Church priest Thomas Chelathin during the Kandhamal riots of 2008 resumed at the Cuttack District and Sessions Court here on Monday.
One of the key witnesses in the case, a nun of the concerned church, was examined by the prosecution on the day. Due to want of time, the defence examination of the witness is fixed for Wednesday.
The Crime Branch police had registered the case in which at least 23 persons were arrested. On the day, during the cross-examination of the nun, she reportedly identified at least five of the accused, who were produced in the court.
However, it may be mentioned that the priest had failed to identify any of the accused during the test identification (TI) parade held at the Choudwar jail way back in 2009.
Although the Crime Branch had registered several cases in the aftermath of the riots, barring the sensational nun rape case and the case of murder attempt on the priest, the remaining cases were tried by the courts in Kandhamal. Following the Orissa High Court order, these two cases were shifted here for trial.
After holding a marathon trial in the nun rape case, the Cuttack court in March 2014 had convicted one person for the rape and found guilty two others for outraging the modesty of the victim. The court had also acquitted six others arrested in the case for having no substantial evidence against them.