By the day Tikiri UP School teacher Itishree Pradhan murder case is becoming murkier and with the latest development of revelation of her dying declaration through a TV channel it has taken a serious turn as it has the potential of nailing a few politicians, including Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, and Government officials.
Before breathing her last at a hospital in Visakhapatnam on November 1 after fighting for life for four days, besides the then SI Netrananda Dandasena, Itishree had pointed finger at everybody starting from the Chief Minister to other ruling BJD politicians, the Rayagada district administration and police, holding them responsible for her tragedy.
“Dandasena, who had made me join the job and offered me a room at the rear side of his house to stay, tried to outrage my modesty at midnight, but when I tried to raise an alarm he shut my mouth and threatened me with dire consequences if I shout; then he pleaded not to divulge the truth” said her dying declaration at the hospital bed.
She had also revealed that Dandasena, the main accused in the case, is Koraput MP Jayram Pangi’s “man” and due to the political patronage no action could be taken against him.
She went on, saying the chief culprit is the CM. The next in the line is the administration that remained a mute spectator throughout. “The third accused is the local political leader, obviously referring to local BJD MP Jayram Pangi.”
The statement sums up that the CM and his administration are responsible for the trauma she had to go through as nobody came to her aid when she made fervent appeals to everybody, starting from the local police to the SP, the Collector and even the CM, to give her protection. Had the authorities intervened, taken action against Dandasena and given her protection, she, the sole bread-winner for her poor family, would have not met her fate.
The dying declaration of the hapless girl, who had gone a long way from Delang in Puri district to Tikiri in Rayagada to eke out a living, implies the pain and agony she had to undergo before her death.
Forget about protection of Itishree from malicious elements; she even had to face ignominy when she was curtly told by a woman police official, “What can you do fighting with Dandasena. You cannot do anything, go.”
From bottom to top, everybody tried to sweep the Itishree issue under the carpet and tried to cover up Dandasena as he is the protégé of a ruling party politician.