Bhubaneswar: Numbers don’t lie and with the figures provided by Odisha government in the Assembly, it seems that the State of Odisha is becoming a safe haven for rapists.
As per a report presented by the government in the House, 604 minor girls were raped in the last six months and a total of 1430 rape cases were registered in last year alone. The depressing figure is gradually leading to alarming proportions with a large number of cases going under the covers without any media attention.
If we take the latest numbers, as many as eight minor girls were allegedly raped in last two days in the state, which aptly describes the condition of women safety in Odisha.
With outrage over the Hyderabad gang rape and alleged Puri gang rape incidents already hogging the media limelight, an alleged rape of a six-year-old girl in Patapur police limits of Ganjam district has come as another shocker.
Sources said the accused, identified as Mrutyunjay Das lured the innocent girl to a temple and raped her. He was later arrested on the basis of an FIR lodged by the family members of the girl.
This is just a drop in the ocean. The list of rapes in the state is long, in fact very long. To mention a few in the last two days – a six year old minor girl was allegedly raped in Khallikote area of Ganjam district, a school student in Soro of Balasore, two girls from Rairangpur area in Mayurbhanj district, a five year old minor in Cuttack’s Khan Nagar and last but not the least, a minor residing in Chandrasekharpur area of Bhubaneswar was also allegedly raped.
Flagging concerns over the alarming rate of violence against women, a social activist, Rituparna Mohanty said, “A complete overhaul of government mechanism including the appointment of more judges is needed to provide timely justice to the victims.”
However, speaking to OTV, Diptesh Pattnaik, IG of North Eastern Range said, “We have created a time bound action plan, so that justice can immediately be given to the victims.”