Bhubaneswar: A mini marathon, styled as ‘Stop-A Thon’ against acid attacks on women held here Sunday morning, saw hundreds of people, both young and old, participating in the event.
The four-km-long marathon started from Kalinga Stadium, took a round of the city, and ended at the same venue. Students and a set of acid attack survivors from different parts of the state participated in the event.
Jointly organised by the New Hope and Institute for Social Development, the marathon was flagged off by women and child development minister Prafulla Samal, who stressed the need to end the trend of acid attacks on women by spreading awareness against the evil.
Director general of police RP Sharma said the Odisha Police would adopt tough measures to stop violence against women, including acid attacks.
Among those present were Cuttack-Barabati MLA Debashish Samantaray, acid attack survivor Pramodini Roul, KIIT University founder Achyuta Samanta and the Institute for Social Development director Subhashree Das.