Over four years back, on June 5, 2013 night, a 14-year old blind girl was brutally raped and murdered in Beladal village of Puri-Konark road, creating a chilling reminder of the Nirbhaya incident in Delhi. Widely-publicised as the “Nirbhaya of Odisha”, the incident shook the conscience of the State, giving rise to a popular backlash to put in place stringent mechanisms to avert any such incidents in future and serve speedy justice to the victim.
Meanwhile the accused in the Delhi Nirbhaya incident have been convicted in the Supreme Court while Odisha’s Nirbhaya is almost a forgotten story, left gasping for justice. The incident came alive again on July 25 at the 3rd Nirbhaya Samaroh in Delhi, where the grandmother of the deceased victim (Odisha’s Nirbhaya) was felicitated.
Tag lined ‘to keep the fire burning in us’, Nirbhaya Samaroh is widely curated as one of the most influential events across the globe held to raise awareness on women’s right. The event held once in every two years in Delhi by the Honour for Women National Campaign, a nationwide movement founded by renowned women’s rights activist Manasi Pradhan to end violence against women, brings together leading women icons and dignitaries from several countries.
The 2017 Nirbhaya Samaroh was attended by renowned actress Shabana Azmi, renowned dancer Padma Vibhushan Dr Sonal Mansingh, Union Cabinet Minister Jual Oram, noted poet and MP Dr Prasanna Patasanni, head of ICICI Bank Padma Bhushan Chanda Kochhar, 2016 Rio Paralympics silver medallist Deepa Malik, renowned activist Dr Kamla Bhasin, renowned educationist Padma Shri Dr Meenakshi Gopinath, renowned choreographer Padma Shri Geeta Chandran, several foreign Ambassador, High Commissioners and dignitaries.
The incident of Odisha’s Nirbhaya was retold at the Nirbhaya Samaroh through the victim’s grandmother to highlight numerous such incidents that happen in the hinterland of India, but rarely get noticed and the victims of such heinous crimes still waiting for justice.