Jajpur Lady PEO Death: Odisha CM Urges Oppn To Avoid Politicising Tragedy

Bhubaneswar: With the opposition training guns on the ruling BJD over the mysterious death of Panchayat Executive Officer (PEO) Smitarani Biswal in Jajpur district, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday requested the members of the Odisha assembly not to politicise tragedy related to women and children.

“Politicising any human tragedy, especially relating to women, is inhuman. This kind of politics will never give any returns,” he said.

Exhorting the members to set high standards of political discourse both in the Assembly and outside, Naveen further said that rape, murder, death of women are extremely sad events and politicising them, multiplies the trauma and gives out a very wrong message to the people.

“As Chief Minister, let me assure the House, crime against women will be one of my topmost priorities and we will leave no stone unturned to ensure that justice is done. Any case of neglect especially relating to women and children will not be spared, exemplary action would be taken,” he further said.

There are legal fora to challenge an investigation if one is not satisfied with it, Naveen said.

In response to allegations of shoddy probe in Smitarani case, the Chief Minister referred to four sensational cases of rape of minor girls in the state in which death penalty was awarded to the accused persons. He said it was possible because of prompt and professional investigation.

“There has been an increase in the conviction rate in red-flag cases, which has gone up to 41.48% in 2019,” he added.