The Opposition members in the Odisha Assembly on Monday created ruckus demanding resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over the issue of a large number of missing children and sexual assault on minor girls in the State.
During zero hour, the members drew attention to the fact that 5,028 girl children have gone missing in the State in the past four years. Besides, the incident of an eight-year-old girl being raped and dumped by the roadside in Angul district was also raised.
House adjourned
Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro adjourned the House several times during the pre- and post-lunch sessions.
Leader of the Opposition Pradipta Kumar Naik alleged that despite the Patnaik government being in power for five terms, the law and order situation had not improved and minor girls continued to face sexual assaults on a regular basis in the State.
“Although there is an increase in crimes against minors, the State government is keeping mum. The government should inform the House about the steps being taken to stop them,” he said.
Senior Congress leader Narasingh Mishra said: “The CM had said that the law and order situation was normal and satisfactory. According to information submitted to the Supreme Court, 1,005 minor girls were raped within the first six months of this year.”
On Saturday, the Assembly was informed that more than 5,000 girl children have gone missing in the State in the past four years. Furnishing records of the State Crime Branch, Women and Child Development Minister Tukuni Sahu said as many as 5,028 girl children were reported missing between January 2016 and March 2019. Of these, only 2,370 have been traced which means the whereabouts of more than half of them are not known.
In 2016, as many as 1,291 girls had gone missing while 1,360 were reported missing in 2017. Last year, the number of missing girls increased to 1,875, registering a 37.86% jump.
In the first three months of the current year, 502 girls have already been reported missing.
The State police have managed to trace only 79. The average number per month of missing girls has gone up to 167 this year from 125 between 2016 and 2018.
Khordha district reported 432 missing girls in four years, followed by 412 and 409 in Cuttack and Mayurbhanj districts respectively. Compared to girl children, missing of 1,551 boys has been reported during the same four year period and 933 have been traced, that constitute 60.15%.
