Odisha nursing student suicide: 12-hour bandh disrupts life in Gajapati

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Paralakhemundi, Sept 1:

Normal life was thrown out of gear in Gajapati district due to a 12-hour dawn-to-dusk bandh call given by the Gajapati Zilla Adivasi Sangh demanding immediate arrest of former Gajapati collector Basudev Bahinipati and suspended PA, DRDA Kalyan Kumar Rath for their gross inaction that forces Sunita Raita, a tribal nursing student of R Udayagiri, to commit suicide on August 13.

The protestors are also demanding compensation to the tune of Rs 20 lakh to the family of Sunita.

Vehicular traffic came to a grinding halt while all trading establishments, educational institutions and government offices remained closed in the district, reports said.

The Mahasangh alleged that the state government had taken no action in the case even 19 days after the incident.

Rejecting the transfer of collector Basudev Bahinipati and suspended PA, ITDA Kalyan Kumar Rath as a ‘mere formality’, it asked why no case had yet been registered against either of them despite the fact that the police had seized the suicide note of Sunita, in which she had clearly blamed these two officials for driving her to suicide.

SDPO Rabindra Sethi, when asked about the lack of any movement in the case, sought to buy time saying the suicide note had been sent to the forensic lab to verify the handwriting of the accused. “Once the report is received, police would take appropriate action,” he added.

But the Mahasangha maintains that no verification of the handwriting was required since Suinta’s parents had already vouched for the fact that she had indeed written the note.

The Mahansangh has said it would decide on its future course of action tomorrow.