Sexual abuse case: BJP demands Minister Srikant Sahu's ouster, impartial probe
The Odisha unit of the BJP demanded the resignation of Labour Minister Srikant Sahu on Friday after a woman BJD activist accused him of sexual abuse.
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Bhubaneswar: The Odisha unit of the BJP demanded the resignation of Labour Minister Srikant Sahu on Friday after a woman BJD activist accused him of sexual abuse.
BJP state general secretary Lekhashri Samantsinghar told reporters at the party's headquarters in Bhubaneswar that the woman victim had to wait in the Bhubaneswar Mahila police station from 10 a.m. until midnight on Thursday to file her complaint against the minister. Finally, the police filed a report and took her to the doctor.
"Because the minister has been named in the complaint, he should resign on moral grounds." If he does not comply, the BJD should remove him from his position. Otherwise, he may abuse his position to exert pressure on the police to suppress the case," Lekhashri warned.
Lekhashri demanded an investigation into the incident by an impartial agency, lamenting that the police had yet to take any action on the woman's complaint.
She singled out Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, saying that while he has spoken out about women's rights, many of his Cabinet colleagues have been caught up in women-related scandals. In this regard, the BJP leader cited the murder of teacher Mamita Meher, the triple murder of Mahanga, and the Tirtol sex racket.
"We all know that despite the involvement of minister Dibyashankar Mishra in the Mamita Meher murder, minister Pratap Jena in the Mahanga Triple murder, and Tirtol MLA Bijay Shankar Das in sex racket cases," she added.
Lekhashri claimed that the ruling BJD leaders were pressuring the woman victim to drop the case by issuing threats and luring her with money. She also claimed that several senior leaders of the ruling party were present in the woman's police station to persuade her.
The BJP leader claimed that women in the state were not safe under BJD rule, citing the exploitation of a woman worker who had worked for the party for the past 20 years.
