Alleging that officers of as many as 272 police stations have not been accepting FIR related to crimes against on women, the women’s wing of the state BJP said the cops were acting at the behest of the ruling BJD.
“The officers of these police stations, on the directive of the ruling BJD government, are not accepting the FIR related to any form of crime against women,” BJP Mahila Morcha state president Prabhati Parida told media persons here on the concluding the day of Morcha’s 11-day Mahila Suraksha Yatra.
Criticising the ‘Paree Pain Katha Tiye’ campaign of the Odisha Police against child sexual abuse which was flagged off by chief minister Naveen Patnaik on May 28, she said, “Our girls are not fairies, they are humans. They should be given adequate protection according to constitutional provisions”.
Coming down heavily on the state government for the mushrooming of unlicensed liquor shops, Parida attributed the alarming rise in the rate of crime to the wanton consumption of liquor.
She further said the Morcha, during its 11-day yatra, had visited all 147 Assembly constituencies covering a distance of 10,546 km.
The Morcha had organized 213 roadside meetings and 155 public meetings while interacting with about 3,60,000 women, she added.
Reacting to the allegations, BJD spokesperson Sulochana Das said that the Mahila Suraksha Yatra by BJP Mahila Morcha only paid lip service to women, it was actually aimed at strengthening the saffron party’s base in the state.
She said that the BJP aware of the gradual rise of the Congress, is desperately trying to remain the number two party in Odisha after the ruling BJD.
Dismissing the BJP charge that some police stations are not accepting FIRs, the BJD spokesperson pointed out that as far as crime rate is concerned three BJP-ruled states occupy the top three positions in the country, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.
