Bowing to public outcry over alleged rape of a dalit girl in Pipili, Odisha government on Friday ordered a judicial probe into the episode to identify the persons including police responsible for the incident.
"Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has ordered a judicial probe into the alleged rape and harassment of a dalit girl in Pipili area of Puri district," Chief secretary B. K. Patnaik told reporters here.
Justice P. K. Mohanty, a retired judge of Orissa High Court will head the commission, he said adding the panel would submit its report in three months. Justice Mohanty is now heading another commission of enquiry probing the 2006 police firing at Kalinga Nagar where 13 tribals were gunned down.
Among others, the judicial commission will ascertain the circumstances leading to loss of consciousness of the dalit girl and thereafter, home secretary U. N. Behera said.
This apart, the judicial commission will also identify the persons responsible for the incident and role of the police in discharging its responsibility, he said.
"Any other matter incidental to the incident will also come under the purview of investigation of the judicial commission," the home secretary said. Earlier in the day, the government had suspended Pipili police station in-charge Anil Champatiray after it was found that the officer concerned did not register a case a day after the alleged rape on November 28, 2011.
The police registered the case only on January 9, 2012 after the Orissa High Court and State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) intervened in the matter.
The HC had on Wednesday directed the state crime branch police to arrest all the four accused named in the FIR, investigate the matter and submit a status report of the case to it on January 16, besides ordering the government to provide her free treatment and protection.
Champatiray was two days ago transferred from Pipili to Puri police reserve, an action dubbed by women organisations as a 'soft attitude' against the erring police officer. Agriculture Minister Pradip Maharathy, who had come under attack over the incident with the girl's family and women bodies accusing him of shielding the culprits, however, welcomed the judicial probe ordered into the matter.
"Me and the people of Pipili are relaxed over the judicial probe order," Maharathy said.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC), however, termed the judicial probe as an ‘eye wash’.
"It is aimed at protecting those in government without providing any concrete result," OPCC President Niranjan Patnaik told reporters here.
Opposition Congress and BJP, women organisations, dalit and tribal bodies had demanded CBI or judicial probe into the alleged rape as the girl in coma struggles for survival at the ICU of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.
Earlier, the government had handed over the investigation in the case to Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the crime branch, which started its probe two days ago.