28,021 women including 14,291 minor girls raped in 10 years: MoS Home in Odisha Assembly

Bhubaneswar: About 28,021 women including 14,291 minor girls were raped in last 10 years in Odisha, informed Minister of State (MoS) Home Tusharkanti Behera today.

The MoS Behera said this in the House of Legislative Assembly during its Winter Session while replying to a query by senior Congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja.

The Kantabanji legislator sought a reply from Chief Minister as to how many rape cases of both women and minor girls were registered in the State every year starting from 2010 till date and furnish the district-wise details thereof.

“Out of the total number of woman and minor girl rape cases registered, how many are there from the scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) communities in the State and how many wrongdoers have been charge-sheeted so far. Moreover, the CM may please inform as to how many rape accused have been convicted during the same period and provide district-wise details thereof along with the case numbers,” the Congress MLA Saluja further queried.

“About 28,021 women including 14,291 minor girls were raped in last 10 years in Odisha,” Tusharkanti Behera stated in the written reply.

Saluja also wanted to know what steps the State government has taken so far on harassment allegations pertaining to a case with Balangir police framed against the chief supply officer (CSO) of the district by a woman colleague in the office.

In reply to this, the MoS Behera said that as per the available data starting from 2010 up to the end of September 2022, a detailed district-wise list (Annexure-A) of woman and minor girl rape cases registered during the aforesaid period has been attached for information.

Details of the district-wise number of the SC and ST rape survivors are being collected from respective Superintendents of Police (SPs) in the State along with conviction data, the MoS Home clarified.

It is pertinent to mention, the woman employee named Pushpalata Das had leveled charges of physical and mental harassment against the CSO Mir Raja Ali. Taking the matter seriously, the district Collector Chanchal Rana had ordered for a probe of the allegations.