Chief Minister of Odisha Mohan Chanran Majhi. File
| Photo Credit: Biswaranjan Rout
The Biju Janata Dal on Wednesday (October 15, 2025) criticized Chief Minister Mohan Majhi for releasing the video of his conversation with the Odia medical girl student who was gangraped in Durgapur of West Bengal.
Addressing a press conference, women wing of BJD took strong exceptions to conversation being made public, which the party termed as violation the Supreme Court guidelines.
“Even as women in the State continue to become victims of such heinous crimes every day, the CM has shown little concern. While the incident in West Bengal is indeed deplorable and painful, the manner in which Mr. Majhi made the recording of his conversation with the victim public is even more condemnable,” women leaders said.
“Despite the recurrence of rape and gangrape incidents in the State over the last 15 months, the CM has remained silent. His sudden interest in the West Bengal case is purely politically motivated. Both the State and National Women’s Commissions have met the victim in West Bengal, but when it comes to Odisha, they have never shown such initiative in similar cases,” said Sulata Deo, General Secretary and Rajya Sabha MP.
Ms Deo said, “it is unfortunate that instead of ensuring justice for victims, the BJP and the state government are politicizing their pain. When BJP MLA Santosh Khatua made indecent remarks about a BJD leader, the matter was reported to both the State and National Women’s Commissions, yet neither took any action.”
Similarly, senior General Secretary Lekhasri Samantsinghar said that the way BJP leaders, including former union minister and Balasore MP Pratap Sarangi, rushed to West Bengal to meet the victim, it was felt like a scene of ‘rape tourism.’
It needs to be mentioned that Odisha had sent delegation of officials and chairperson of State Commission for Women to West Bengal to provide support to the rape survivor. Almost all top BJP leaders have publicly expressed concerns over gang-rape of Odia girl.
Family members of rape survivor pleaded the government to facilitate transfer of their daughter any of medical college of Odisha, government sources said.
Published – October 16, 2025 03:40 am IST
