Lanjigarh gangrape case: Law and order situation under Odisha govt crumbling, says BJP

Lanjigarh/Kalahandi:  Days after three minor girls were allegedly gangraped while returning home in Lanjigarh town of Kalahandi district in Odisha, the BJP has lambasted the BJD-ruled government for the deteriorating law and order situation in the State.

Raising the issue of increasing crimes against women including the rape of a girl student in a hotel in Cuttack today, Odisha BJP’s general secretary Lekhasri Samantsinghar said police administration in the State is collapsing with miscreants and criminals going scot-free. Questioning the delayed police response in the Lanjigarh gang rape case, Samantsinghar said it took almost three days after the incident to lodge an FIR. “Instead of immediately registering a case, police instigated the gang-rape survivors not to file a complaint and even after almost a week, none of the accused have been nabbed,” she alleged.

Samantsinghar further said that this is not an isolated case as another incident of rape was reported from Cuttack on the day and the rising spate of such crimes indicate the lackadaisical approach of the ruling party as regards ensuring law and order in the State. “The State’s conviction rate of 9.2 per cent shows competence of the police. Miscreants and criminals have no fear of police as they see no action against pending cases against Ministers. This emboldens wrongdoers to commit crimes with sheer ignominy as erring Ministers in the government serve as role models. Now where is the government’s zero tolerance for crimes against women as cases of rape and sexual violence keep being reported with such frequency? The BJD will get the answer in the upcming polls,” she added.

On April 16, three minor girls were allegedly gangraped at a place under Lanjigarh police limits when they were returning to their homes in the wee hours after watching a drama (play) being staged on the occasion of Maa Tarini Jatra in Kalahandi district.

According to an FIR lodged by the gangrape survivors’ parents, the girls had gone to a nearby locality to witness the Jatra (funfair) and were returning at around 4 am. On the way, they were intercepted by five miscreant youths who  forcefully took them to a secluded place and gangraped the trio one after another. However, two of the minors could manage to flee and reach their homes.

The five youths threatened the victim girls with dire consequences if the latter reveal anything before anybody. The wrongdoers left the place soon after committing the crime, the FIR mentioned. After returning home, the minor girls narrated their plights before their respective parents. Acting on the FIR, Lanjigarh police registered a case in this connection and launched a detailed probe.