The rape and murder of a ten-year-old girl in Odisha’s Bhadran district has sparked massive outrage across the State with agitated locals laying siege to a police station in the district, while the Opposition BJD hit the streets on Wednesday, registering noisy protests in Bhubaneswar.
Expressing deep anguish over the incident, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Majhi announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh to the bereaved family.
The arrested accused will be duly punished in accordance with the law, and police will act accordingly in submitting the medico-legal evidence before the Court for expeditious trial and conviction of the wrongdoer, CM Majhi said.
The sexual abuse and murder of the victim occurred in Baligaon village under the Chandbali Police Station jurisdiction in Bhadrak district, as the locals spotted the body lying in a pool of blood at a deserted place in the village yesterday.
While police have taken into custody the perpetrator of the dastardly crime, hundreds of protesters, including homemakers, cordoned off the Chandaballi police station, giving vent to the anger over the rape and murder of the minor, alleged rising lawlessness, and growing alcoholism in the region.
The angry mob later ransacked the house of the accused in the village as tension continued to prevail in the village.
“The situation is tense but under control. Adequate police deployment has been made to avert a possible breach of peace in the region. Police will deal with the case in all seriousness and frame a charge sheet at the earliest. Locals have alleged an illicit liquor trade in the area. Police have taken immediate steps to nab those involved in the illicit liquor trade,” said Sub Divisional Police Officer Trilochan Sethi
In a related development, Biju Yuba Chatra Janata Dal, the youth wing of the regional party, staged a demonstration in front of the Chief Minister of Odisha’s residence in protest against the Chandballi rape-murder case.