Even as the Crime Branch(CB) is probing the mystery surrounding the death of Laxmi Majhi, a warden of ‘Maa Gruha’ in Rayagada's Chandrapur, the women wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Odisha on Saturday pressed for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the matter.
Notably, Laxmi’s half-charred body was found on the premises of Chandrapur Hospital on December 21.
Addressing a presser in Bhubaneswar, BJP’s Mahila Morcha (women wing) president Aiswaya Biswal alleged that even though more than a week has passed since Majhi's death, police are yet to hand over the post-mortem report to the bereaved family.
Despite a complaint lodged by the deceased’s father, police have not arrested the president of the NGO Alisha which is running the Maa Ghara, the BJP Mahila Morcha leader said while expressing doubts over the ongoing investigation.
She accused the police and the state government of suppressing the matter. The BJP leader added that it is very unfortunate that a Dibyang and tribal woman like Laxmi is 'killed and burned' on the premises of a hospital while no one is aware of such a gruesome and heinous crime.
Wondering how such an incident could happen in a hospital, the BJP leader also alleged, “Police do not want to unravel the facts relating to the murder mystery while the state government has handed over the investigation to the Crime Branch only to conceal the truth.”
Given such facts, there is a need for a CBI investigation into the matter so that what exactly happened with Laxmi would come out, Biswal said.
Also Read: No headway in Laxmi Majhi death case; Tribal outfit calls for Rayagada bandh on Jan 5
Targeting the Odisha government, she also said, "The state government claims to be the custodian of ‘Maa Ku Samman’ (honour to women), such an incident points to the fact that women in Odisha are not safe and are unable to grow prosperous. We demand that the Biju Janata Dal(BJD) should take the safety of women seriously and the state government allow the murder case to be probed by the CBI.”
Laxmi’s father Beldhar Majhi, alleged, “My daughter had told a cousin that she had been tortured by the director of Alisha NGO, Narasingha Mohapatra. Some staff of the hospital had also misbehaved with her. Laxmi had decided to leave the job of warden in January, 2024. Before that, she was murdered on December 21. From the very beginning, I have suspected the director's involvement in the case."
However, the reaction of the BJD leaders could not be obtained over such statements by the BJP.