Mahakalapada Rape Victim dies in Bhubaneswar

The 14-year-old minor girl, who was gangraped before being set on fire, breathed her last at the Biju Patnaik Airport in Bhubaneswar while being shifted to Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi for further treatment. Protesters took to the streets last night soon after the news broke out and vandalised the Capital Hospital premises.

The victim, a Class VIII student, was raped and then set ablaze by two youths on July 28 in Khairnashi village under Mahakalapada in Kendrapara district, battled for life at the SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack. She had suffered 70% burn injuries. There was a huge uproar over the way she was treated. When her condition worsened, she was supposed to be air-lifted to Delhi, but died before that.

A team of the SCB Hospital team, who were supposed to board the flight to Delhi at 9 PM, returned from the Airport without revealing anything and then got the girl admitted into the ICU of Capital Hospital. She was declared dead there. While the girl’s father claimed that she died much earlier, the doctors formally announced her death news at around 11:45 PM.

The women and student organizations, Youth Congress workers and BJP Mahila Morcha workers resorted to violent protests and damaged two ambulances at the Capital Hospital where the victim was declared dead. They also vandalised the casualty word. Another group set a truck and four buses on fire on the Master Canteen – Ram Mandir route.

The Youth Congress and BJP workers along with other protesters gheraoed the residence of Health Minister Dr. Damodar Rout, who has been accused of indifference towards the victim’s plight. There were reports of vandalism at his residence. Another group of protesters tried to barge into CM’s residence at Naveen Niwas, but blocked by the cops.