The alleged molestation and disrobing of a 22-year-old NGO worker in Odisha’s Rayagada district after a mob mistook her and a male colleague for child-lifters has triggered a political storm, with the opposition attacking the state government over women’s safety and the BJP asserting that police acted swiftly.
Police said 21 people have been arrested so far and three criminal cases registered in connection with the June 16 incident. The two NGO workers, both from Delhi, had travelled to the area for research work and returned home after receiving treatment at a local hospital.
According to Rayagada Superintendent of Police Raj Prasad, the incident occurred at Kandulguda village under Kalyansinghpur police station on the night of June 16. Villagers allegedly mistook the woman and her male colleague for child-lifters and assaulted them.
“More arrests could be made in the coming days after verifying the video footage,” Prasad told reporters.
The two were conducting research under an NGO in Odisha’s Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Rayagada districts. Recounting the incident, the woman told reporters, “The locals assaulted me, pulled me by my hair, tore my clothes and touched me inappropriately even though we had no link with child lifters.”
Both victims later received treatment at a local hospital before returning home.
Leader of Opposition in the Odisha Assembly and BJD president Naveen Patnaik described the incident as a “barbaric and shameful” act and said it raised serious questions about “humanity and the dignity” of women in the state.
In a post on X, Patnaik said, “This heinous, barbaric incident that occurred in Rayagada, Kalyansinghpur, with a Delhi student has shaken, shamed, and worried the entire Odisha.”
He also questioned the state’s response, asking why Odisha’s image was being tarnished and whether the government and police administration had become helpless in ensuring citizens’ safety.
“Isn’t ensuring everyone’s safety the responsibility of this government?” he asked, while criticising what he called the government’s “numbness and silence”. He urged the government to take the strictest possible measures to ensure women’s safety and restore law and order.
Other BJD leaders, including MP Sulata Deo and senior general secretary Lekhashree Samantsinghar, said at a press conference: “This is the first of its kind in the state. A woman was never disrobed during mob violence. The state government must publish a white paper on the steps taken for women’s safety.”
Odisha Congress president Bhakta Charan Das said, “There is no break on the rising crimes against women in BJP-ruled Odisha. This must end.”
Around 2,000 Mahila Congress activists, led by state president Meenakshi Bahinipati, launched a fast in Bhubaneswar and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited Odisha during the day, of being indifferent to crimes against women.
Bahinipati said, “Sexual assaults on women have become a regular phenomenon in Odisha, and the PM remains indifferent to such crimes all along. Disrobing women in public seems to become part of the BJP’s governance style.”
Das, who joined the protest, said, “The Prime Minister may visit Odisha 100 times, but he is indifferent to crimes against women and the dignity of mothers and daughters.”
Rejecting the opposition’s allegations, BJP MP Pratap Sarangi said police had taken prompt action in the case, “unlike the previous government”.
“All the guilty persons will be arrested and punished,” said Sarangi, a former Union minister.
Balaram Bagh, a driver who came to the woman’s rescue and covered her with his T-shirt, said he tried his best to stop the crowd but nobody listened.
“I risked my life, entered into the melee and rescued the woman and sent her and the male victim to a hospital,” he said.
Bagh added that the mob was too violent and not in a state to listen to reason, and even chased the police van carrying the two victims.
The incident has since become a major political flashpoint in Odisha, with the opposition alleging a breakdown in law and order and the BJP maintaining that swift action has already been taken. Police have arrested 21 people so far, registered three cases and said further arrests may follow after video footage is examined.
– Ends
With inputs from PTI
Published By:
India Today Web Desk
Published On:
Jun 21, 2026 03:37 IST
