PURI/BHUBANESWAR:In a shocking incident, a medical student has accused some policemen of molesting female devotees during the Sandhya Darshan of the deities at Gundicha temple in Puri on Sunday. The Darshan is one of the festivities associated with Rath Yatra.
Despite not being a victim herself, the girl showed admirable courage to report the incident on the social media. Within hours, her posts went viral and the MBBS student was complimented for showing guts to raise voice against such an incident.
Even as the Puri Police said the matter will be looked into, Director General of Police KB Singh said a case is being registered at Kumbharpada Police station and SP Sarthak Sarangi has been asked to monitor inestigation. “We will go into the matter and take stringent action,” he told this paper.
The complainant, a resident of Bhubaneswar said, she was so appalled by the sight of one policeman touching women inappropriately that she held the collar of the cop and slapped him thrice.
In her post on a social networking site, the student alleged that some jawans of Odisha Auxiliary Force (OAF) were seen touching women devotees inappropriately. “There are some OAFs and police who were touching the private areas of girls. I am actually ashamed that such things happened in Puri Dham. I lost my patience then and holding his collar, I slapped him thrice,” she wrote in her Facebook post. The young woman said she also took up the matter with Puri SP.
“It’s not that this is something rare. It happens with a girl often. But if we keep quiet like this, people will keep doing such ridiculous things again and again,” she said.
The student said she felt happy when an elderly woman and a handicapped man thanked her for showing the courage. “I couldn’t see Lord Jagannath because of the rush. But the blessings I got from them (old woman and handicapped man) count,” she wrote.
Within hours of her posting the issue on FB, the issue became talking point on Monday. People congratulated her for voicing her concern against the police.
The Bharatiya Janata Party was quick to demand action on the incident. Its women wing sought arrest of the policemen involved in such deplorable actions.