Bhubaneswar After a former assembly Speaker resigned following charges of sexual harassment last year, the Naveen Patnaik government in Orissa is again facing a controversy with a minister accused of shielding the prime accused in an alleged gangrape of a Dalit woman.
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Development Minister Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha is accused of attempting to hush up the incident at Paikamal in Bargarh district, 350 km from Bhubaneswar.
"The allegations against me are false and baseless. Truth will prevail soon," Bariha told reporters today and alleged it was a 'conspiracy' against him. Ruling BJD on Monday suspended Paikamal block chairman Mahesh Agarwal, one of the four accused persons in the alleged gangrape of a 24-year-old Dalit woman on May 10.
The woman was allegedly raped by four persons, including Agarwal, at a godown of the Paikamal block office. The victim in her complaint to the police alleged she had gone there to enquire about a government job when Agarwal's associates took her to the godown and raped her.
According to Baragarh Superintendent of Police Ashok Biswal, medical examination of the girl confirmed rape.
Though the minister was not named in the FIR, he has been accused of shielding Agarwal and others as they belonged to BJD.
Bariha had allegedly visited the house of Agarwal after becoming a minister when the police were searching for him. Agarwal, who has obtained anticipatory bail while the three others were absconding, was also spotted at the election victory procession of the minister which was held after the alleged gangrape incident.
The state government has ordered a police inquiry even though the local people alleged police inaction.
Last year, a lady marshal had levelled charges of sexual harassment against then Speaker Maheswar Mohanti. He had subsequently resigned. A minister Debashis Nayak was removed for allegedly instigating the lady marshal to level charges against the Speaker.
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