ASI transferred over refusal to lodge complaint

ASI transferred over refusal to lodge complaint

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar

THE tragic death of a 20-year-old college girl after setting herself ablaze due to alleged blackmailing threats by her boyfriend has snowballed into a full-blown political issue.

While leaders from opposition BJD, Congress and Left rushed to the Kathiapada village under Pattamundai rural police limits on Thursday, former chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik slammed the state government for failing again to provide safety to women.

"Deeply saddened and anguished to know that another girl from Pattamundai, Kendrapara has set herself on fire in desperation after her pleas for justice fell on deaf ear yet again. It pains to know that within a month, three young girls have lost their lives in very similar circumstances. Each fatal flame that consumed these innocent lives indicates a disturbing pattern in Odisha," Naveen said in a post on X.

"How many more funeral pyres must be lit before the state BJP government will wake up? How many more mothers must hold the ashes of their daughters before the BJP government acts?," the leader of Opposition