Odisha 2025: State rocked by gang-rapes,murders, scams
BHUBANESWAR: Odisha found itself grappling with a series of gruesome crimes that shook the conscience of not only the state but the entire nation. A disturbing spate of gang-rapes, murders, self-immolation, riots and scams exposed the systemic rot.
The series of brutal gang-rapes in the state, especially near popular tourist places, sparked massive outrage, exposed gaping holes in security, prompting calls for better and women safety measures.
On June 15, a 20-year-old college student was gang-raped in front of her male friend by 10 men on Gopalpur beach. Another college student, aged 19 years, was gang-raped by four men on September 13 after they held her male friend hostage near Baliharachandi temple in Puri district.
In the capital, the shocking gang-rape of a 17-year-old girl and brutal assault of her friend near Dhauli hills on December 10 by a history-sheeter and his three associates showed that there was very little fear of law in the tourist zones across the state.
This year, at least four tragic self-immolation incidents hogged the national headlines. A second year student of Integrated BEd at Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College in Balasore set herself on fire outside the principal’s office on July 12 after her repeated complaints of sexual harassment by the head of the Education department, assistant professor Samir Sahoo, were allegedly ignored by the college administration.
She sustained 95 per cent burn injuries and succumbed during treatment at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar two days later. The incident sparked significant outrage, political controversy and calls for systemic reforms in the education sector.
In another incident of alleged institutional negligence, a 20-year-old Nepalese girl studying in KIIT university allegedly died by suicide on February 16 following harassment by a 21-year-old mechanical engineering student from the same institution.
The incident exploded into a diplomatic crisis with Nepal warning that it may reconsider allowing its students to pursue education in India if the case was not handled fairly and legally.
A stampede in Puri during Rath Yatra exposed Odisha Police’s lapses in crowd management this year and drew the ire of the opposition parties. Three devotees, including two women, lost their lives and several others sustained injuries in the stampede that broke out in front of the Gundicha temple during the early hours of June 29.
Another flashpoint was the communal violence in Cuttack on the evening of October 3 during a Durga Puja immersion procession when a group objected to loud music, triggering clashes that left several injured, including Cuttack DCP Khilari Rishikesh Dnyandeo. In response, the authorities imposed a 36-hour curfew and suspended internet services across several police stations of the city on October 5.
In Malkangiri, a large group of tribals from Rakhalguda village ran riot in neighbouring MV-26, home to Bengali origin settlers, on December 8 over an Adivasi woman’s murder. Prohibitory orders and internet shutdown continued for days as such as stand-off, taking place for the first time in the district, exposed the social fault lines.
The brutal murder of BJP leader and member of Odisha State Bar Council Pitabasa Panda in Berhampur on October 6 night was one of the most chilling crimes of the year. Panda was shot dead near his residence following which police arrested former MLA and BJD’s Ganjam president Bikram Panda and ex-mayor of Berhampur Municipal Corporation Pintu Das among 16 persons in connection with the murder case. The state government also faced a major embarrassment when the police sub-inspector (SI) recruitment scam came to light. Investigation of the fraud having inter-state links was then handed over to the CBI after the arrest of mastermind Sankar Prusty.
The Odisha government faced another predicament when a group of men assaulted BMC additional commissioner Ratnakar Sahoo on June 30 on his office premises in full public glare. BJP leader Jagannath Pradhan was later arrested in this connection but before that the incident grabbed national headlines and paralysed administrative works as OAS officers went on strike despite assurance of the state government.
The year ended on a positive note as Odisha Police achieved a major success in curbing Naxal activities in the state. In the last week of December, police neutralised six red ultras including central committee member Ganesh Uike in Kandhamal district.