Breaking his silence over the Mamita Meher murder case, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday came down heavily on the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress for causing continuous disruptions in the proceedings of the winter session of the Odisha Assembly.
The State Assembly failed to transact any legislative business since the beginning of the session as the two Opposition parties persisted with their agitation seeking removal of Minister of State for Home Dibya Shankar Mishra for his alleged link with the accused of the woman teacher’s murder.
“I am deeply concerned that there are attempts to prevent one of our colleagues — a member of the August House -- from discharging his duties. The Indian Constitution has given crucial responsibility to the legislature and its members enjoy certain safeguards and privileges for helping them discharge their duties without fear, intimidation and pressure,” said Mr. Patnaik reading out a statement in the Assembly.
‘Wrong precedent’
“It will be a travesty if the members of the House are not allowed to discharge their constitutional duties. This is also setting a wrong precedent and such attempts can be misused anytime,” he said.
Mamita Meher, teacher at Sunshine English Medium School, Mahaling in Kalahandi district, had gone missing on October 8 and her body was traced on October 19. She was reportedly strangulated to death by Gobina Sahu, promoter of the school. Sahu admitted to have strangulated the teacher to death in order to prevent her from disclosing his extra-marital affairs.
Minister Mishra was often seen on campuses of educational institutes promoted by Sahu. Opposition parties allege the murder accused was being shielded by the Minister for which he managed to escape from police custody.
Terming the death of Mamita Meher as sad and an unfortunate incident, Mr. Patnaik assured that his government would ensure that the perpetrators of the crime are brought to justice as per law in the shortest possible time.
