Bhubaneswar/Kendrapara: A woman sarpanch was allegedly assaulted in Odisha’s Kendrapara district, triggering a political controversy as Opposition parties demanded action against the accused persons.
Chameli Ojha (33), sarpanch of Tikhiri gram panchayat in Mahakalapada block, was allegedly detained by local police Thursday following a dispute at the block office.
Ojha alleged she was assaulted and humiliated by the police and supporters of the local BJP MLA, while the law enforcers said they detained the sarpanch after receiving complaints of misconduct and obstruction to official work.
In a letter to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Ojha alleged that developmental works in her panchayat were affected because payments for completed projects were being withheld.
She claimed that when she approached the block development officer (BDO) seeking clearance of pending bills, she was abused and assaulted by some supporters of Mahakalapada MLA Durga Prasan Nayak.
Ojha alleged she was mistreated by the police while being taken to the police station and accused some people of attempting to tarnish her image through a vilification campaign.
Condemning the incident, BJD MP Sulata Deo said, “While the state government is celebrating the completion of two years in office, the public humiliation of an elected woman representative is extremely shameful and condemnable.”
The humiliation inflicted upon Chameli has posed a challenge to the dignity of women and to the three-tier panchayati raj system as a whole, she alleged.
The chief minister claims that women’s empowerment is one of the government’s core objectives but the manner in which a BJP-supported elected woman representative has been subjected to assault has exposed the saffron party’s double standards, Deo alleged.
BJD leader and former minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak demanded action against the police personnel “involved”, alleging that the assault was carried out at the behest of local political leaders and officials.
A joint delegation of the Congress, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and CPI(M) leaders met the Kendrapara collector and sought action against the police, BDO and others allegedly involved in the incident.
The delegation also visited Ojha at the district headquarters hospital, where she is undergoing treatment.
BJP leaders, however, rejected the allegations. District BJP president Sasanka Sethi denied any involvement of party supporters in the episode.
Kendrapara Superintendent of Police Siddharth Kataria also dismissed allegations of police excesses.
According to the police, the BDO lodged an FIR alleging that Ojha and her brother abused him, obstructed official work and unlawfully recorded videos inside his office chamber.
Police claimed that the duo also misbehaved with and assaulted police personnel who arrived to investigate the complaint.
Based on the FIR, police registered a case under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), arrested Ojha’s brother and detained the sarpanch.
Ojha later fell ill at the police station and was shifted to the district headquarters hospital for treatment, the police said.