Berhampur: A factfinding team deputed by the Congress on Saturday visited Gopalpur beach in Odisha’s Ganjam district where a 20-year-old college student was allegedly gangraped by a group of miscreants recently.
Led by former AICC general secretary Deepa Dasmunshi, the team includes MPs Ranjeet Ranjan, Praniti Shinde and S Jothimani and former Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza.
The team has been deputed by the AICC to conduct an on-the-spot inquiry, meet the survivor, her family, law enforcement officials, and other stakeholders. The team has been tasked to prepare a report to be submitted to the AICC president.
The incident took place on June 15 night when the woman had been to the beach with her male friend on the occasion of Raja festival. A total of ten persons, including four minors, have been arrested in connection with the gangrape. While six of the accused are now lodged in Berhampur jail, the juveniles have been sent to an observation home.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das told reporters that the party has taken the recent cases of violence against women in Odisha very seriously and therefore sent a fact-finding team.
Stating that he has written to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi seeking time for the team members to meet him, the PCC chief expressed the hope that the CM will spare time for meeting the team members.
During their visit to Gopalpur, the team members interacted with people and sought information about police patrolling in the area. The team also met Berhampur SP Saravana Vivek M and discussed both the Gopalpur gangrape case and the rape of two minor girls in Golanthara area on June 5. The SP informed the team that all accused persons in both cases have been arrested.
The team members claimed that there were no proper safety measures for women on Gopalpur beach though it is an important tourist destination. “We also plan to meet President Droupadi Murmu and take up the matter with her,” they said.
They further alleged that atrocities against women in Odisha were increasing and at least three gang-rape cases reported this week. When Congress MLAs demanded formation of a House committee and discuss the matter, the government did not listen and suspended them from the House, said a team member.
