A special women protection force is urgently required for Puri to build an environment of safety of women tourists and halt the rising incidences of crime against women at Puri, observed the two-member NCW inquiry committee constituted to investigate the rape and murder of a 14-year-old blind girl on the Puri-Konark marine drive.
Giving details of her observations, NCW member Manasi Pradhan noted that a special women protection force consisting of members of paramilitary personnel should be created and entrusted with the duty of patrolling the Puri beach, the Puri-Konark marine drive and the town. The committee found that none of the four most important police stations of Puri has a functional women’s desk. The town is also devoid of a women police station. The most used stretch of the Puri beach remains entirely unguarded and the police watchtowers vacant.
The committee consisting of Hemlata Kheria and Manasi Pradhan has completed its inquiry conducted from July 17 to 23. The committee visited the victim’s Beladal village and recorded the statements of her parents and other witnesses. It also visited the spot of the crime and recorded the testimony of all concerned officials and reviewed the progress in the police investigation. Kheria observed that a negligible compensation of Rs 10,000 has so far been received by the victim’s parents though the crime is almost a reenactment of the Delhi gangrape and murder case that shook the entire country.
The committee observed that though the victim’s parents have given testimony regarding involvement of four to five persons in the crime, the investigation has made no headway in probing this angle and the police have so far comprehended only one person. The committee members said they would soon submit their preliminary report. Senior officials of the State Government would soon be issued summons to appear before the committee with affidavits detailing the actions taken by the authorities. The committee is likely to make a second visit next month, they said.