Gopalpur Gang-Rape: Priyanka Gandhi Says Odisha Govt Fails to Prioritise Safety Of Women

In a post on X, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi wrote, “The barbarity inflicted by 10 people on a female student in Gopalpur, Odisha, cannot be condemned strongly enough. Violence against women is rising day by day in Odisha. In a state where the Chief Minister himself admits that nearly 44,000 women and children have gone missing in the last five years, failing to prioritize women’s safety is in itself an injustice against women.”

The incident occurred on Sunday when the young woman had gone to Gopalpur Beach with a friend, the miscreants gang-raped her. Not only that, the accused assaulted her friend, tied him up, and then carried out the gang-rape. The incident has once again put the BJP government in Odisha under scrutiny over issues of women’s safety.

Additionally, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate condemned the incident. On X, she said, “This is horrific. In Odisha’s Gopalpur Beach, 10 monsters gang raped a college girl. The girl was with her friend. The beasts beat up and tied her friend and then gang raped the girl in front of him. Under the BJP government in the state, it has become unbearable for daughters to live.”

Meanwhile, the Odisha Pradesh Congress has alleged that more than 15 women and minor girls fall victim to gang rape and brutal atrocities, while the double-engine BJP government is celebrating its one-year anniversary with festivities in Odisha.

 In Harichandanpur, Keonjhar district, the home district of the Chief Minister, a woman was gang-raped and hanged from a tree by miscreants. Minor tribal schoolgirls are becoming pregnant. In Kaniha block of Angul district, a Scheduled Caste woman named Subhadra was gang-raped and killed, her body discarded. Atrocities against tribal and Scheduled Caste women in the state have crossed all limits, yet why is the Chief Minister, himself from a tribal community, not taking these serious incidents seriously? This question was raised by Odisha in-charge Ajay Kumar Lallu.

In response to the horrific gang rapes in Gopalpur of Ganjam district, Harichandanpur of Keonjhar district, Barang in Cuttack, and Kaniha block of Angul district, the Odisha Pradesh Congress, demonstrated before the Chief Minister’s residence on Wednesday.

The AICC In-Charge, Odisha said that Odisha is the only state in the country where crimes against women have broken all national records. Is this the greatest success of the double-engine government?, he questioned.

He further said that it is regrettable that instead of resigning due to the rising atrocities against women, the Chief Minister is celebrating with festivities.

MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati accused the BJP, a party with a Manuvadi mind-set, of treating women as objects. The Congress will raise this issue again in the Legislative Assembly, he said.