Odisha minister Pradeep Maharathy resigns over controversial remark

Bhubaneswar, Jan 6: Odisha agriculture minister and senior BJD leader Pradeep Maharathy, who had made a controversial statement on the acquittal of a murder and rape accused, resigned from Naveen Patnaik's government on Sunday.

In the infamous Pipli gang-rape and murder case, a 19-year-old Dalit girl was raped in 2011 and died in a coma in 2012 sparking a state-wide furore over the incident. The two prime accused in the case were acquitted by Bhubaneswar Additional District Judge in December last year.

Maharathy had commented on their acquittal by saying "my sympathy are with the victim, but I respect the court's verdict. The victim had got justice and truth has prevailed," sparking outrage and protests by women's wings of the two leading opposition parties Congress and BJP in the state.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also accused the Naveen Patnaik-led Odisha government of not being serious about the welfare of women and girls and urged it to re-investigate the Pipili gang rape and murder case.

"The system could not give justice to the girl. The government is not taking the matter seriously," Modi had alleged in his speech.

Last month, Odisha Pradesh Mahila Congress members had hurled tomatoes and eggs at the residential quarters of Maharathy demanding his ouster from the Cabinet and the BJP women's wing workers had tried to gherao CM Patnaik's residence.