Family asserts Puri girl killed self, oppn rejects claim
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Bhubaneswar: Family members of the 15-year-old Puri girl, who succumbed to her burn injuries at AIIMS Delhi on Saturday, said persistent stress had forced her to end her life even as opposition BJD and Congress claimed the police and govt were trying to hush up the probe, a charge denied by the BJP and the security establishment.
"My daughter ended her life due to family-related stress. We do not hold anyone responsible for her death. Govt and doctors tried their best to save her," her father said on Sunday after receiving his daughter's body. The 15-year-old was airlifted to Delhi on July 20 from AIIMS Bhubaneswar where she was admitted on July 19, the day of the incident.
Initially, she had claimed three unknown men had set her on fire, but subsequently withdrew her statement before a magistrate.
Unfazed by the bereaved family's appeal to keep her death away from politics, opposition parties trained guns at the police and govt.
BJD, which claimed the girl was murdered, said the manner in which the Odisha govt and police were trying to hush up the matter was shocking. "Though she was murdered after being doused with kerosene by three men as per her statement, Odisha police, through an X post claimed no one was involved in the incident," Sasmit Patra, BJD Rajya Sabha member, said.
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Congress member Sonali Sahoo claimed the girl's family was pressurised by the govt and police not to speak the truth. "Police have manipulated the investigation and turned the murder case into a suicide to protect the govt," Sahoo alleged.
Denying the charges, a police officer said, "We accorded top priority to the case and probed her charges with all seriousness. However, there was no evidence to corroborate her allegations.
She told a magistrate at AIIMS Delhi that she had set herself on fire, though she had previously spoken about three unknown men out of trauma."
Deputy chief minister K V Singh Deo hit back at the opposition criticism. "The opposition parties should stay away from politicising such tragic matters. The govt took all necessary steps, but unfortunately, her life could not be saved," Singh Deo said, adding that the girl's family has no complaints against the govt or police.
"Normally, in such cases, the victim's family doesn't stand with the govt. But here, the family is with the govt. Family members are saying the govt has done its best," Singh Deo pointed out.
The girl's body reached the Bhubaneswar airport around 11:10pm. There was massive security presence at the airport to prevent any untoward incident given that members of all parties had gathered.
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