Report by Basant Rath; Nabarangpur: Normal life was thrown out of gear as the 12-hours district bandh called by the congress in protest against alleged gangrape and murder case of 16-year-old-dalit girl in Gumandali village under the
Kosagumuda block evoked a massive response on Thursday.
Market, Schools, colleges, shops and other business establishments remained closed, Vehicular movement came to a halt in the early hours. In Nabarangpur town, the Congress workers led by PCC working president and former MP Pradeep Majhi, staged a road blockade on National Highway-26 at Chamuriaguda by burning tyres besides activists picketed and blocked roads at several important places of town. The party workers raised anti-government slogans and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits.
A car was set on fire at Ambedkar Chowk by irate locals in the meanwhile Majhi talked the protesters over mobile phone to keep petrol and diesel ready to set everything on fire after getting directions, said Majhi.
“We want to warn the government that if justice is not served in the case, we will take law in our hands for our dignity and safety, said Majhi. Though we are inspired by the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi, we did not get justice in many rape and murder cases, we decided to go for Subhas Bose’s path, he added.
Majhi accused police of going slow on its investigation. “Though the incident happened on December 13th night, police are yet to arrest the prime accused. Congress will intensify its agitation in Koraput, Malkangiri and Rayagada districts if the accused is not arrested immediately,” he said. Even as nearly two week has passed after the heinous crime occurred, police have failed to nab culprits yet. Thirteen days after the incident, the police are still investigating the case and yet to obtain the post-mortem reports, Majhi alleged.
Notably, the girl had gone missing on December 13th night after she went out of the house to relieve herself. When she did not return, family members started searching for her but in vain. On December 14, her body with scars and bruises was found in a farmland near her house in Gumandali village under Koshagumuda block. A pair of trousers was also lying near the body, leading to suspicion that she had been gangraped and then killed.
Congress demand that the culprits be brought to fore and punished as per law, said DCC President Muna Tripathy. The bandh and demonstrations were held in all blocks of the district. A senior police official said “only two platoons of police force have been deployed in the town to ensure that no untoward incident occurs during the bandh”
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