Nayagarh: Even as nearly a month has passed since the public assault of a woman allegedly by a lawyer of Daspalla court, the police are yet to take action against the accused, a report said Wednesday.
The issue could have gone unnoticed had the video of the incident not gone viral. In the video, lawyer Hadibandhu Sahu of Kunjabanagad in Daspalla was seen assaulting Babita Guru, wife of undertrial Uttam Guru in front of a photo-copier shop near Daspalla court in the presence of public, September 26.
Although people were present during the incident, none came forward to oppose Sahu. The woman somehow managed to free herself from the clutches of Sahu and escaped from the spot.
Later, she lodged a complaint at Daspalla police station the same day. However, police failed to take action on her complaint. This has raised questions on the 5T initiatives of the state government.
Sources said Uttam, a native of Gadiapada village under Banigochha police limits, is lodged in the jail for last five months over a case of fight with others.
His wife Babita approached Hadibandhu and requested him to help her husband get bail and gave him Rs 6000 as expenses. However, Hadibandhu did not move the bail application and kept on delaying the matter. The woman approached Hadibandhu several times for bail but in vain.
Later, the lawyer asked Babita to pay him an additional Rs 10,000 failing which her husband will not be able to get bail. Expressing concern, Babita demanded the papers back from him.
The lawyer gave her the papers and asked her to make photocopies of it in the nearby Xerox shop. The woman was on her way to the shop when the lawyer tried to snatch away the papers from her and assaulted her.
When contacted, lawyer Hadibandhu Sahu rejected the charges and termed it as an attempt by a section of lawyers to malign his image in connivance with the woman. He said he only tried to get the charge sheet back from the woman which he had obtained from the court.
When contacted, Daspalla police IIC refused to speak on the issue.