Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is drawing much flak from several Opposition political parties and social activists for the killing of Rayagada schoolteacher Itishree Pradhan.
Senior Congress leaders Niranjan Patnaik and Anant Charan Sethy, seior BJP leader Biswabhusan Harichandan, lokashakti Abhiyan member Prafulla Samantara, Samata Kranti member Manoj Jena, SP member Sudarshan Pradhan, Dr Abhinna Hota from Human Rights Sangathan, lawyer Chinmay Mishra, Western Odisha Youth Association member Amwarish Banchhor and coordinator Debi Prasad Prusty visited Itishree’s native village Muninda in Puri district on Monday to console her family. They held the Chief Minister responsible for the brutal murder of Itishree.
They alleged that even after her appeal to the Rayagada Collector and SP, the Education Minister and Naveen Patnaik to save her life, no one paid heed to it. “Declaration of ex-gratia by the Chief Minister for the death humanity is a shame for the State, especially women. Capital punishment to the culprits can only bring peace to the victim’s father,” the leaders added.
“The ruling system in the State has been totally paralysed and atrocities on women are on the rise,” alleged Niranjan Patnaik. Harichandan and Samantara also called upon the common mass to raise their voice for security of women and demanded immediate stern punishment against the killers of Itishree.