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The victim was in the central ICU of the SCB hospital where a team of multi-disciplinary super specialists attended on her. The hospital had provided free treatment on the orders of the high court. The girl was in coma ever since she was raped and an attempt made on her life on November 28 last year. The death of the girl came two days after Odisha High Court, which monitored the treatment of the victim, directed the state government to continue providing the best available treatment to the victim and gave liberty to the petitioner advocate Prabir Das, a social activist, to approach the court in case he felt any negligence in her treatment.
Taking note of the status report filed by the investigating police officer, the high court had wanted to know why the dismissed policeman and doctors were not arrested. The IO had stated that since the offences invited simple imprisonment of less than one year, he did not arrest them on the basis of section 41 of CrPC. The police, however, had kept the investigation open in case the victim emerged from coma. The rape had triggered a state-wide outcry and led to the ouster of Pipili MLA and the then Agriculture Minister Pradip Maharathy following allegations about his role in the episode, they said.
Police officials of Pipili were criticised for the manner in which the case was handled. Doctors of the Capital Hospital and SCB Medical College and Hospital had come under severe attack from different quarters for allegedly not providing immediate treatment to the girl, who had been discharged earlier. Bowing to public outcry, the state government had ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident. With the high court and Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) voicing concern over incident, the opposition Congress and BJP had demanded a CBI probe into the incident.