Angul: Incidents of rape and murder are on the rise in Angul district. Such cases are increasing because, as the locals alleged, exemplary punishment is not being meted out to the accused. They also alleged that the police are not creating awareness about such crimes and the punishment involved.
The latest incident which shocked the residents of the district to its core took place July 24, 2021. The victim was a Plus-III final year student at Angul College. She had gone to the rivulet near their village to bathe around 8.00 am on the fateful day.
When she did not return home for a long time, her family members launched a frantic search for her. Later, they found her nude body near the rivulet, hidden under leaves and twigs.
The incident enraged the villagers, who along with the victim’s family members staged a road blockade on Angul-Athgarh state highway demanding action against the accused.
Two other sensational cases are the Kangula rape and murder case and the Angul bus stand case of 2019.
In the first case, a Class VIII girl was raped and murdered January 20, 2019. She was carrying food for her father, who was working in their farmland. Finding her alone, an accused, later identified as Anam Dehury, a resident of Kangula village, overpowered her. He not only raped her but also murdered her by smashing the victim’s head with a stone. Far from feeling remorse for what he had done, he turned out to be a necrophiliac and had sex with the lifeless body.
The incident had then hugged headlines. Four days after the incident, the police arrested Dehury from Kolkata. But exemplary punishment is yet to be handed out to the accused.
Also read: College-going student raped, murdered in Angul district
The POCSO court had awarded capital punishment to the accused while adjudging it as a rarest of rare case. However, the Orissa High Court had set aside the death sentence.
In the July 21, 2019 incident, an eight-year-old girl was sleeping with her family members on the verandah of a shop at the bus stand in this town. Shibu Patnaik, a middle-aged man of Amlapada area, who got out of his house between 2.00am and 4.00 am, saw the girl. He allegedly abducted her and took her behind a nearby Aahaar centre. There he threatened to kill her if she tried to cry for help. Subsequently, he then raped her and left the spot after dumping her in a drain. Later, the victim was rescued in a critical condition and the accused was arrested.
The case is still pending for judgment.
According to some intellectuals, in most cases the perpetrators are sort of patients suffering from mental illness. There should be provisions for stringent action against them.
“Many people are losing the ability to think in a sane manner due to drug and alcohol addiction. They are no longer able to differentiate between the right and the wrong. Watching porn videos is also leading many youths to astray, making them commit such crimes. A stringent law can only make some difference in checking such crimes,” observed Dr Rashmita Bhanjdeo, a psychologist.
Expressing her concern over the increasing incidents of rape and murder, housewife, Sushree Sangeeta Mohanty said, “These cases are increasing because the police are not in touch with the common people and not keeping tabs on criminals. Women and girls are not feeling safe anymore. They are afraid to go out. The police department should be more watchful to put a check on such cases.”
When contacted, Anjali Tripathy, a lecturer of Psychology department, Angul College, said there are still some loopholes in the law that help such criminals go scot-free. So the law should be made stringent.
In this regard, Angul SP, Jagmohan Meena said, “We are taking all the rape cases reported at different police stations in the district seriously. After registering cases, we are investigating and taking actions against the accused. But we have no information regarding several cases that are not being reported. Several cases are coming to the fore after the launch of ‘Pink Patrolling’. If the police receive complaints about people having some psychological problems, it will be easy for them to keep tabs on them.”