CM Naveen Patnaik promises stringent action against Salepur rape accused

As Naveen expressed his anguish over the incident, the opposition staged a protest alleging that law and order situation in the state has worsened under him. The accused was allegedly lured by her married neighbour with a chocolate and he tried to strangulate her to conceal the crime.
"I feel the deep anguish of members of this House and people of Odisha over the terrible rape of a child that took place in Salepur on 21st of this month. The accused was arrested within 24 hours of this terrible incident," Naveen told the assembly.
"The child was given the best medical attention by a team of doctors at SCB in Cuttack. Unfortunately, she died last night. I will see to that the most stringent action is taken against the accused....I would like to send my deepest condolence to the bereaved family," he added.
The opposition was not happy with the chief minister`s statement. "The family must be condoled, but mere condolence is not enough. The chief minister has not spoken a word on checking rising rapes of minors in the state. It`s unfortunate," leader of opposition Narasingha Mishra told reporters outside the assembly. A written reply in the assembly by the chief minister on Monday reveals that the rape of minors has been rising steadily over the years. While 1,050 girls were raped in 2014, the number went up to 1,212 in 2015, 1,204 in 2016 and 1,283 in 2017.
Naveen`s reply reveals the accused were not arrested in 287 cases in the past four years. While no arrest was made in 14 cases in 2014, there was no arrest in 90 cases in 2015, 48 in 2016 and 135 in 2017.