Bhubaneswar: Members of the Biju Mahila Janata Dal Thursday staged a protest here demanding the arrest of BJP MLA Santosh Khatua for allegedly making ‘derogatory’ remarks against senior BJD leader and general secretary Lekhasri Samantsinghar. Led by BJD’s chief whip and senior vice-president Pramila Mallik, members of the women’s wing of the party took part in a ‘Swabhiman’ (pride) rally from Rajmahal Square to Master Canteen Square, where they also burnt an effigy of the BJP legislator.
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Khatua had allegedly made derogatory remarks against Samantsinghar last week. “Such derogatory comments made by a BJP MLA against a woman are unacceptable in a civilised society. BJP MLAs have forgotten their moral values and ethics,” Mallik told reporters. Demanding Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s interference, Mallik said the MLA’s remark clearly indicates how unsafe women are under the BJP government. “Since the BJP came to power, women have been subjected to daily atrocities in the state.
In the past year alone, the rate of crimes against women has increased alarmingly,” she alleged. In the afternoon, a delegation from the Biju Mahila Janata Dal met DGP YB Khurania and submitted a memorandum demanding the arrest of Khatua. Khatua defended his comments, claiming they were a reaction to Samantsinghar’s earlier statements. “She had called me a ‘thief’ and a ‘dacoit’. I replied in the same tone. If a woman has dignity, don’t men have any prestige?” Khatua asked.
