OST Bureau

Bhubaneswar, Nov 2:

Politics over distribution of relief materials to the cyclone and flood affected people has now yielded place to politics over death of Rayagada lady teacher Itishree Pradhan with the opposition parties seeking to corner the state government on the issue ahead of the approaching Assembly and general elections.

tikiri teacher

While state Congress president Jaydev Jena met Governor SC Jamir on Saturday seeking his intervention in the matter, women’s wing president of BJP Simantini Jena lashed out at the government holding chief minister Naveen Patnaik responsible for the rising crime against women.

“I have requested the Governor to intervene in the matter considering the importance of the case. The culprits, whoever they are, must be punished. The state government cannot wash its hand off the case,” said PCC president Jena.

Simanti Jena said "No woman in Odisha is safe under the BJD government." The state BJP has decided to observe ‘Badabadua’ in memory of the women victims of violence.

Earlier in the day, OJM president and Rajya Sabha MP Pyarimohan Mohapatra had trained his guns directly at the chief minister asking him to give up his Home portfolio. OJM youth wing members also gheraoed the DCP office protesting against the death of Itishree.

The 36-year-old teacher of a school in Tikiri, who refused to withdraw an allegation of molestation against a school sub-inspector, was set on fire on Sunday night by an unidentified person.

A large number of people came out on the streets and held road blockades at different places condemning the incident and demanding punishment for the culprits.