Want justice, not minister’s resignation: Pipili gang-rape and murder victim’s family

Puri: Minutes after senior BJD leader and Odisha Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy resigned from ministry citing “moral’ grounds in connection with the sensational Pipili gang-rape and murder case, the mother the victim said the minister’s resignation does not ensure justice for her daughter.

“We want justice for my daughter, not minister’s resignation. What we will get with his (Pradeep Maharathy) resignation,” the mother of the victim told reporters as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“We want proper investigation by the CBI and Pasia Pradhan (one of the accused) should be hanged to death.”

The father of the 19-year-old victim was also not in a mood to accept that Maharathy’s resignation will bring any hope for their family’s fight for justice.

“I would be happy only when justice is done for my daughter,” he told with choked voice.

Also Read: ‘My daughter’s soul is crying’, says mother of Pipli gang-rape victim

Similarly, the victim’s brother, raising questions over the Crime Branch investigation, said his family wouldn’t get justice with a minister’s resignation.

“We are not satisfied with Crime Branch investigation and, therefore, the case should be handed over to the CBI for proper and an impartial probe,” he demanded.

Earlier in the day, Maharathy, a six-time MLA representing Pipli in the assembly and Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Minister in the Naveen Patnaik-led government, said he is resigning from the ministry on moral grounds.

It comes day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had accused Odisha government of not being serious about the welfare of women and girls and urged it to re-investigate the Pipili gang rape and murder.

In December last year, a Bhubaneswar court had acquitted two persons arrested in connection with the case.

It may be recalled here that a 19-year-old girl was found unconscious and semi-naked in a paddy field in Pipli on November 28, 2011. She succumbed on June 21, 2012 after remaining in coma in SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.