Bhubaneswar: Expressing deep anguish over the brutal murder of a pregnant woman in Hinjili area of Ganjam district, Leader of Opposition (LoP) Naveen Patnaik has urged Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to ensure immediate police action and support for the deceased’s three-year-old daughter, who witnessed the crime
In a letter to Majhi, the BJD president described the incident at Kharida village as ‘heinous” and said the visuals of the victim’s 3-year-old daughter crying beside her mother’s body had “shocked the conscience of Odisha”.
As per reports cited in the letter, the pregnant woman was murdered in front of her daughter by the brother of her husband while she was staging a dharna outside her in-laws’ house seeking justice. She was reportedly holding her daughter in her lap when she was attacked.
Naveen Patnaik urged the Chief Minister, who holds the Home portfolio, to direct police to immediately arrest all accused involved in the crime. He also sought immediate state support, compensation and rehabilitation for the three-year-old girl who witnessed the killing.
The BJD president further demanded an inquiry into why preventive action was not taken despite the victim allegedly sitting on dharna seeking justice before the incident occurred.
Seeking the Chief Minister’s personal intervention, the former CM said the perpetrators must be punished as per law and steps should be taken to ensure such incidents are not repeated in the state. “I request your personal intervention to ensure that the perpetrators are punished as per law and such incidents are not repeated,” Naveen wrote in the letter.
