Odishatv Bureau
Cuttack: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who also holds the home portfolio, will not file any affidavit before the Justice P K Mohanty Commission probing the sensational Pipili gang rape and murder case.

Informing this to the commission on Saturday through an affidavit, the state government said there is no need for the home minister to file any affidavit before it since a number of government officials, including the home secretary and the director general of police have already filed theirs.

The commission had last month asked the government to respond to a petition made by the victims family counsel Nishikant Mishra.

Mishra had urged the commission to bring the home minister into the purview of the probe when the government had defended summoning Pipili MLA Pradeep Maharathy saying the legislator was not in the know of things as he was not heading the home ministry.

Mishra and the government advocate have submitted their respective witness list to the commission.

Mishra has named the police commissioner, Bhubaneswar deputy commissioner of police, assistant commissioner of police, Mancheswar police station inspector and the ambulance driver who ferried the body of the victim from the hospital to the crematorium as witnesses for cross examination.

Going through the witness list, the commission ordered former Puri superintendent of police A N Sinha, Pipili sub-divisional Rajkishore Rout and a forensic officer J B Patnaik to appear before it on December 15 for deposition and facing cross examinations.

When the body of the 19 year-old victim was being carried to Bhubaneswar from Cuttack hospital, the city police did not allow the body to enter the city and the ambulance carried the body to Arjungada village from where she hailed and then to Puri for cremation.

The girl's family had alleged that the police did not allow them to cremate the body in Bhubanesar.

The dalit girl was allegedly raped and attempt was made to kill her in November 2011.

The girl was allegedly not given proper treatment at Pipili government hospital and then in Capital Hospital here allegedly under pressure from Pipili MLA Pradeep Maharathy.

The girl was even discharged from SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack even though she was in coma.

Later, the girl was again admitted at SCB Medical College Hospital as per direction of Odisha Human Rights Commission in January this year. She died in the hospital in June.

The incident led to a mass protest leading to resignation of Moharathy as the agriculture minister in February, 2012.

Odisha government ordered a crime branch inquiry into the incident which arrested all the four accused persons allegedly involved in the rape and attempt to murder case.

Charges against the accused were lated converted to murder charge after the girl died.

The Pipili police station in-charge was dismissed and the Puri SP transfered.

The matter was probed by National Commission for Scheduled Caste and the National Commission for Women.

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