BHUBANESWAR: Even as the 15-year-old girl, who was allegedly set ablaze by unknown miscreants in Balanga of Puri district, succumbed to burn injuries at AIIMS-Delhi on Saturday, her father and police’s statement indicating she took her own life has fuelled a fresh political tussle with the Opposition accusing the government of shielding the culprits.
Addressing a media conference here, Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik along with BJD spokespersons Tukuni Sahu and Lekhashree Samantasinghar said the sudden emergence of the suicide theory in the case has given rise to suspicion and many questions. This has been done to shield criminals and protect their political masters, they said.
Samantasinghar alleged that immediately after the incident, the husband of local MLA and deputy chief minister Pravati Parida reached the house of the victim and did not allow any outsiders to meet them.
“After the girl’s death, the victim’s father has made a surprising statement. When the victim is no longer in this world to state the truth, the police are presenting the suicide theory, which is not acceptable at all,” she said adding the deputy CM should step down immediately.
The Congress also demanded the resignation of Parida over the issue. “As the deputy chief minister and BJP MLA from Nimapara, Parida should step down from the post as such a serious case has taken place in her constituency,” state Mahila Congress president Meenakshee Bahinipati told mediapersons.
Raising questions on the government’s handling of the case, Bahinipati asked why nobody was allowed to meet the victim’s family. She demanded the deputy chief minister also be brought under the purview of investigation and warned if the real culprits are not arrested within the next seven days, the state Assembly and office of the DGP will be gheraoed by Mahila Congress.
On the other hand, deputy chief minister KV Singh Deo trashed the Opposition stating they were hell-bent on politicising the sensitive matter.
He said that the state government had taken all necessary steps in this case and the victim was also sent to AIIMS-New Delhi. But her life could not be saved despite best of treatment, he said.
Meanwhile, the body of the Balanga victim reached Bhubaneswar on Sunday night.
The body was handed over to the relatives of the victim after postmortem. The funeral will be conducted at Bayabara, the ancestral village of the victim’s family.