Claiming that as many as 4,100 rape cases were registered in the state during the last three years, the women wing of the Odisha state Congress on Wednesday demanded a CBI probe into the Dalit teenager rape case in Pipili.
"We also demand immediate arrest of all the accused persons in Taradipal case where a girl was kidnapped and sexually assaulted for about two months," Odisha Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee president Bijaya Laxmi Sahoo told reporters after meeting the Chief Secretary B. K. Patnaik.
Noting that the white paper tabled in the state assembly showed that during the last three years around 4,100 cases under section 376 (rape) were registered, the former minister said: "It is shocking to know that the police had filed charge sheet in only 18 cases."
Terming the state government's announcement of setting up a judicial commission to the Pipili rape case as an eyewash, she said it was meant to deflect public attention. On Taradipal case, Sahoo claimed that though the Mahila Police Station had arrested two persons on allegation of the brother of the victim, they were subsequently released.
"The entire episode shows insensitivity and insincerity of the Mahila Police station authorities," she alleged seeking action against the erring policewomen.
Mahila Congress activists also staged a demonstration before the Mahila Police Station here condemning its act of releasing two accused persons in Taradipal case.