Mahanga Minor Girl Death: Odisha Women’s Commission Seeks Report From Cuttack Police In 15 Days

Bhubaneswar: Voicing concern over the death of a Cass X girl student in Mahanga block of Odisha’s Cuttack under mysterious circumstances, the State Commission for Women on Thursday sought a detailed report from the district police.

The Commission, which suo motu registered a case over the incident, directed the Cuttack Superintendent of Police to submit a report within 15 days, sources said.

In another development, a police team questioned the PET teacher of Gokan High School, where the girl was studying, in connection with the mysterious death. The police also reportedly questioned the teacher’s mother at Cheliagarh village in Jagatsinghpur. It was alleged that the minor girl was in a relationship with the teacher.

Stating that investigation into the incident is in progress, Cuttack SP (Rural) Mihir Panda reportedly said that efforts are on to ascertain the circumstances that led to the death of the minor girl student of the government high school.

The mystery surrounding the girl’s death has deepened further after a letter and a purported audio of a BJD leader went viral on social media. The girl had died on June 18 under mysterious circumstances and it is alleged that her body was disposed of in haste without conducting a postmortem.

The deceased, a native of Sukuapada village under Gokan gram panchayat, was a student of Gokan High School. It was then reported that the schoolgirl allegedly had an affair with a teacher who stayed in her house on rent. When her parents learnt about it, they reportedly asked the teacher to leave. The girl also stopped attending classes and was later found dead under suspicious circumstances.

In a suicide note, the girl purportedly wrote that her father had poisoned her. She was reportedly in a relationship and the letter appears to have been addressed to her lover, where she confirms having consumed ‘something’.

Former block chairman of Mahanga Sarat Nayak came under the scanner after an audio recording of his purported telephonic conversation with mother of the school teacher went viral, a couple of days ago. Nayak, who is secretary of the school, reportedly ensured that the case was covered up. In the audio clip, he is heard claiming that he ‘managed’ the hush up and demanding Rs 70,000 from the teacher’s mother for bribe to be paid to the police and local journalists.

The matter came to light after an alleged audio of BJD leader and former Mahanga block chairman Sarat Nayak went viral. The audio is said to be the conversation between Nayak and the mother of a teacher with whom the minor girl allegedly had some relationship. It was claimed that the minor girl committed suicide after her family came to know about the incident.

He also asserted that ashes have been immersed in a river. Had the postmortem been conducted, it could have led to a lot of problem as the report might have revealed she was pregnant, Nayak said, adding that he was more concerned about the reputation of his institute.

A BJP delegation led by state vice president Lekhasri Samantsinghar met DGP SK Bansal on Tuesday and sought stringent action against the culprits while demanding that the ‘suppressed’ facts regarding the death of the girl be revealed.  Mentioning about Nayak’s alleged involvement and the viral audio, the saffron party said that he was a close aide of former minister Pratap Jena. He is also suspected to have a role in the murder of the witness in the Mahanga quadruple murder case, they claimed.