Kandhamal, Apr. 7 : Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi will campaign in Orissa's riot-hit Kandhamal District on Wednesday.

Kandhamal District witnessed the killing of several Christians and the burning of several houses and churches following the murder of VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati.

On August 25th, a 29-year-old Catholic nun was allegedly raped and a priest assaulted at Baliguda during a shutdown in Orissa.

Communally sensitive Kandhamal district of Orissa is all set to carry another vague record. The district, dominated by the tribals has registered country’s highest infant mortality rate (IMR).   

In its latest publication of “Infant and Child Mortality in India : District Level Estimates'', a New Delhi-based Population Foundation of India (PFI) estimates that IMR in Kandhamal was 121 per 1000 live births, while the national infant mortality rate per 1000 live births stands at 54.

Violence has again returned to strife-torn Kandhamal district. A tribal was shot at and two houses torched in G Udaygiri block of Kandhamal late on Saturday evening.

One more person was arrested in connection with the alleged rape of a nun in Orissa's riot-hit Kandhamal district on Saturday.