Odisha: Congress workers clash with police near CM’s residence during protest over crimes against women

Bhubaneswar: Congress workers clashed with the police near Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s residence in Bhubaneswar Saturday while protesting crimes against women in the state.

Hundreds of Congress workers led by the party’s state president Bhakta Charan Das marched towards the CM’s residence on the Mahatma Gandhi Marg, shouting slogans denouncing the attacks on women.

“Over 1,600 cases of crimes against women, including 54 gang rapes, were registered in the last eight months. Children are getting pregnant in state-run schools. What is happening in the land of Lord Jagannath?” Das told reporters, attacking the BJP which came to power in the state in June last year.

“Schoolgirls in Malkangiri, Jajpur and Keonjhar districts have got pregnant while staying in state-run hostels. How is this possible?” he asked, seeking a reply from the Chief Minister.

He said Majhi, who is also in charge of the Home Department, cannot escape his responsibilities.

Congress leader Meenakshi Bahinipati alleged that the victims of crimes against women were mostly tribal.

“We have a tribal leader as the Chief Minister and he has utterly failed to protect the state’s girls and women,” she alleged.

The Congress workers clashed with the police when they were stopped a few hundred metres away from the CM’s residence.

Several activists scuffled with the police who tried to prevent them from proceeding further.

After taking charge as the state Congress president, Das has been raising the issue of women’s safety regularly.

He formed a team February 26, and it has been tasked to visit different districts to look into cases of atrocities against women.

“At least seven women are subjected to atrocities in some form or the other every day in the state,” Das claimed.