Normal life was disrupted in Konark as the BJP’s Mahila Morcha launched 12-hour bandh across the town protesting prostitution in the area and a recent incident of gangrape of a woman belonging to West Bengal.
Shops remained shut and vehicles were off the roads causing inconvenience to locals and tourists flocking the Sun Temple.
The woman’s wing of the saffron party called for a dawn-to-dusk bandh demanding immediate arrest of the accused in the gangrape case.
“We demand the Arka place ‘Konark’ to be declared a prostitution-free region for the safety of women and arrest of the kingpin,” said BJP Mahila Morcha State president Pravati Parida.
She accused the police of not taking action against the kingpins and other accused in the case under pressure from the ruling BJD.
“If prostitution will continues in Konark, the small traders, who are depending on the tourists, will be hugely affected as one day the tourists will stop visiting the place,” she said.
Notably, the woman hailing from West Bengal was gangraped after being held captive by a youth for 10 days in Konark earlier this month. The victim was rescued by the police and locals from a closed room at a market complex on October 17 in critical condition. The victim told the Konark police that she was lured to Odisha on a pretext of being given a job one year ago, but later she was raped by more than 10 to 12 men and forced into prostitution.
Meanwhile, police have arrested at least six persons in connection with the alleged gangrape.