Odisha women activists protest over police inaction in ‘rape case’

Reported by Santosh Jagdev
Bhubaneswar, July 21:

Odisha women rights activists belonging to All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), Bhubaneswar district committee today staged a protest in front of the Mahila police station here alleging police inaction over the case of the alleged rape of a woman on July 12 by the director of the the company she was working for.

AIDWA protest over rape case
AIDWA protest over rape case

The agitated women activists demanded the immediate arrest of the director of a finance company ‘Money.in’ in city for allegedly raping the woman employee.

The 24 year old victim from Kujang in Jagatsinghpur district , who lives in rented house in Laxmisagar had alleged that one Ritesh Patnaik, director of Money.in who had engaged her in his office as a trainee followed her on July 12 when she left for her residence for lunch.

Ritesh allegedly entered her house  on the pretext of some urgent work and raped her after muffling her face with a a medicated handkerchief .

“The handkerchief was allegedly smeared with an anaesthetic that caused me to fall unconscious on the floor” the victim said.

The victim’s husband who was away, rushed home after she informed him of her plight and  confronted Ritesh in the latter’s office.

Then the couple then went to the Laxmisagar police station, which in turn asked them to report the matter to the Mahila police station. The Mahila police neither filed any complaint, nor was she taken for the mandatory medical test, the victim said.

“After 48 hours of the incident, the Mahila police took me for the test,” she said, adding, the Mahila  police did not take any action against the accused employer.

“The apex court’s guideline requires the police to take prompt action against the accused right after a complaint of rape is lodged,” said Minati Panigrahi, convenor of  the district unit of the AIDWA.

On the other hand, the inspector-in-charge of Mahila police station Sujata Panda said investigation is on to ascertain the truth and that they have registered two separate cases filed by both  the victim and the accused.

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