Witnesses turn hostile in nun rape case

Five witnesses in the nun rape case, last month, gave "compromised testimony" after being threatened of "dire consequences", reported an international advocacy group.

According to International Christian Concern (ICC), two witnesses, Prahalad Pradhan and his wife Chanchala, in whose house Sister Meena took shelter after the rape, did not confirm the incident.

"Prahalad said that the two were dragged from their house by a mob, but...Chanchala only admitted that the nun and a priest took shelter in their house and said she did not know anything else," ICC reported.

Three other witnesses, Debendra Naik, Dhaneswar Mallick and Surendra Digal, is said to have denied knowing any knowledge of the incident.

The nun was raped and paraded naked on August 25, 2008, in the aftermath of the killing of a local VHP leader.

The next hearing in the case is fixed today, May 11.