Pipili Rape Spectre Returns To Haunt Pradeep Maharathy

Bhubaneswar: BJD leader and Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy on Thursday apologized for his ‘insensitive’ comments following the acquittal of the accused brothers in 2011 Pipili gang rape and murder case.

Even as the girl’s family expressed shock over the verdict of the lower court on December 24, Maharathy asserted that truth has finally prevailed and the victim girl got justice.

”I am sorry if anyone is hurt over my statement. I have no intention to hurt anyone. I am an open minded person,” Maharathy told mediapersons.

Whether his apology would douse the flames of the candlelight vigil of BJP, which is demanding his dismissal and a CBI probe into the alleged rape and subsequent death of the 19-year old Dalit woman in Pipili of Puri district, is yet to be seen.

However, the minister is not new to controversies. Time and again, he has invited the ire of women, activists and opposition for his atrocious statements, and in turn, embarrassed his party.

And he did it again and ghost of 2011 Pipili gang rape-murder case is back to hound him.

The then first-time minister, who was sworn in May 2011, had to step down on January 19, 2012, “to ensure that the image of his leader and party remained unsullied” ahead of the Panchayat polls, having been in the line of fire for providing shelter to the accused.

Ironically, he was reinstated before this judgment came.

The opposition had termed his resignation as a ‘drama’ to save the Chief Minister from further embarrassment.

This time too, the state BJP and Congress are up in arms against the minister, demanding his scalp. While the saffron party has threatened to hit the streets if he is not dismissed within 24 hours, women activists of Odisha Congress hurled eggs and tomatoes at the official residence demanding his resignation.

Odisha’s Shame

A 19-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly gang-raped at Arjungoda village under Pipli police limits of Puri district on November 29, 2011.

She was found in a semi-nude and unconscious state near her house.

The girl was allegedly targeted as she was the prime witness in an alleged gang rape case that took place in her village in 2008 in which her friend was the victim.

While the family members had alleged gang rape and an attempt on her life, the local police refused to register a complaint on the victim’s statement following the incident and did so only on January 9, 2012, after the State Human Rights Commission intervened following public outcry.

A few heads rolled as the incident snowballed into a major controversy. Besides Maharathy, an IPS officer was shunted, and a police inspector dismissed from service.

It was only after the High Court’s intervention that the girl was given proper treatment and admitted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack on January 11, 2012. Prior to that that she was undergoing treatment at Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar.

The victim, who had slipped into coma following the incident, was put on ventilator from March 19, 2012, after she developed breathing problems. After battling for life for almost six months, she died of septicaemia [blood infection], acute respiratory distress syndrome [ARDS], and cardiac arrest on June 21, 2012, just two days after the High Court decided to stop monitoring the treatment.

Committees & Inquiries

The uproar over the alleged gang rape and subsequent callous attitude of the doctors had embarrassed the Naveen Patnaik government.

The Chief Minister ordered a Crime Branch (CB) probe into the incident on the direction of the High Court following allegations that local police had tried to hush up the case under political pressure. To quell the opposition’s demand for a CBI probe, he later appointed a judicial commission of inquiry, headed by retired high court judge Justice P K Mohanty to probe the incident.

The CB filed chargesheets against eight persons, including former inspector in-charge of Pipili police station Amulya Kumar Champitray and three doctors for neglecting the girl’s treatment.

The different committees inquiring into alleged doctors’ negligence in the case, however, found no fault with the treatment, but cast aspersions on doctors for not informing the police. An earlier report by director, medical education and training, P K Das, had given doctors at SCB, a clean chit, but the experts’ panel is said to have raised questions about why the hospital authorities discharged the girl in December when she had not recovered.

The accused

The CB arrested the prime accused in the case, Sukant Pradhan, from Rasulgarh in Bhubaneswar the day Maharathy put in his resignation letter.

He along with Prasant Pradhan, Guna Swain and Premananda Nayak were booked under Sections 341, 307, 376 and 506 of the IPC and Section 3 of the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocity) Act.

Seven years after the sensational case which had triggered outrage and protests across the state, Bhubaneswar Additional District Judge on Monday acquitted Sukant and his brother Prasant due to lack of evidence.

The CB on Thursday said it would move the High Court challenging the trial court order.