Odisha gang rape: Activists demand women panel chief’s sacking

Social and political activists Saturday staged a demonstration demanding dismissal of state women panel chairperson Jyoti Panigrahi for ruling out rape in her report on an alleged gang rape victim.

The activists, comprising members of opposition parties and members of civil society and women’s organisations, demonstrated near the official residence of Governor M.C.Bhandare.

“Though the National Women Commission have come out with a report confirming rape of the victim and highlighted the negligence of police and the doctors, Panigrahi had released a report saying that she did not find any evidence of rape,” said Prasanta Patnaik of Odisha Gana Samaja, which organized the protest.

“She (Panigrahi) only put the blame on the doctors while giving a clean chit to police who had played mysterious roles in suppressing the crime,” Patnaik told IANS.

The protestors also submitted a memorandum to the governor. “We also urged the governor to take disciplinary action against a senior police officer as he too played a mysterious role, he said.

The 19-year-old victim has been in a state of coma after she was allegedly gang raped Nov 28 by some people near her village Arjunagoda in Puri district, barely 10 km from the state capital.

The woman is under going treatment at Sriram Chandra Bhanja (SCB) Medical college hospital at Cuttack. Her condition continued to be critical.

The alleged gang rape has created a political storm, prompting Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy to resign on Jan 19 after the opposition and the girl’s family alleged he was protecting her attackers.