Rape of minor girls is on the rise in Odisha with a total of 4,749 cases being reported over the last four years with the figure for last year 2017 being 1283 cases – 79 more than the previous year.
The figures were revealed on a day when CM Naveen Patnaik expressed his condolences to the bereaved family of a minor rape victim of Salepur who died on Sunday and announced ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh and the Congress as well as BJP took to the streets staging protests and candle light march.
With regards to the crime figures , a reply to a question of Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati, revealed that 1,283 minor girl rape cases were reported in 2017 as compared to 1,204 in 2016 while 1,156 accused in 2016 and 1,148 accused in 2017 have been arrested. Besides, 92 gang rape cases were registered in 2017 and 199 accused persons were arrested.