The Capital City witnessed three murders, including the rape and murder of a four-year-old girl in the past 24 hours. The incidents have raised serious questions about the safety of women in the city and have put the Commissionerate Police on the spot. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Odisha has raised the issue, holding the state government responsible.
As per reports, the mutilated body of a four-year-old girl was recovered by police at Kela Basti under the Airfield Police limits late on Monday night. The girl was allegedly murdered and raped by one of her relatives. The accused has been identified but is absconding.
The second murder was reported from the Gothapatana area yesterday. A woman running a refreshment shop near Gothapatana Chhak was found murdered under mysterious circumstances while her husband was away to fetch water. The identity of the accused and the motive behind the murder are yet to be ascertained.
In another case, a woman was allegedly murdered by her in-laws in the Airfield area. The family of the deceased filed a police complaint alleging that her in-laws used to torture her and killed her.
Meanwhile, the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) expressed concerns over the safety of women in the city after the three incidents. A team of BJP's women leaders met the family members of the minor rape victim. Demanding immediate arrest of the accused, they sought stringent action against the perpetrator.
The BJP held the state government responsible for such incidents, citing that in the absence of stringent action, the perpetrators in many cases go scot-free.
ALSO READ: Woman stabbed to death in Bhubaneswar, probe launched
Voicing concern over such incidents, BJP leader Babu Singh said,” Why women are unsafe in Bhubaneswar. Why they are not provided safety? The perpetrators manage to go scot-free and commit more crimes.”
He also alleged that in the cases relating to women, people of the ruling party are involved and the BJP holds the ruling dispensation responsible.
President of the Odisha BJP Mahila Morcha, Aiswarya Biswal said, “Many children in the state are missing and most of them are girl children. They are either kidnapped or untraceable. The state government is hardly concerned about the missing children.”
No comments have been received from the police or the ruling party in this regard.