This is yet another tale that should make the nation hang its collective head in shame. Days after a 27-year-old schoolteacher was assaulted and then set on fire in daylight at her hostel in Tikiri village in Rayagada district of Odisha, she succumbed to injuries at a private hospital in Vishakhapatnam, in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh on Thursday (October 31).

Her ‘crime’? She had protested and complained against sexual harassment by Netrananda Dandasena, the local school inspector who had allegedly been stalking her for over two years.

State director general of police (DGP) Prakash Mishra is uncertain whether it’s a murder or a case of suicide.

While the accused, who was reported to be “absconding” since the incident took place, though locals say he was roaming around freely, has been arrested and action taken against other officials accused of inaction, this is not the first case of violence against women by people allegedly close to powers that be – and crimes that have largely gone unpunished over the last few years.

But more on that later.

What the Tikiri case has shown – and shown in abundance, as many would corroborate – is the apparent nonchalance of the local administration. The feisty teacher (name withheld), according to reports as also women’s rights activists, had knocked on every possible door and exhausted all possible forums to have the authorities stop Dandasena, but to no avail. The result: the murderous assaulted on her by goons allegedly hired by the suspended local school inspector on October 27.

The victim sustained 90 percent burns and was admitted in the burns ward of Seven Hills hospital in Vishakhapatnam as her condition deteriorated.

According to reports collated from the district, trouble started for the victim after she spurned the advances of Dandasena soon after joining her post in June 2011. Since then, she had lodged a sexual harassment case with the district inspector of schools, a complaint with the district collector, two FIRs in the local police station, and submitted several memorandums to the state commission for women, director general of police, Odisha home secretary and the chief minister. In all the complaints, she stated in no uncertain terms that her life was in danger and begged to be transferred out of the district.

But she was denied justice. First, the local police failed to arrest Dandasena even after he was found guilty in an inquiry by district collector Sashi Bhusan Padhi. The accused, said to be close to a powerful politician, was subsequently declared an absconder even as he reportedly walked around in Tikiri, terrorising the victim.

Now, after the attack, the state government has galvanised into action. The “absconding” Dandasena has been arrested, the district inspector of schools and assistant sub inspector of Tikiri police station have been suspended and the chief minister has declared that an ex-gratia amount of Rs 10 lakh will be given to the victim’s family.

But it’s too little and, more importantly, comes too late.

Apathy by all concerned

While chief minister Naveen Patnaik has rightly called the attack on her an “inhuman and barbaric act”, what should be kept in mind is that it was completely preventable, but for the callous indifference of the state and district administration.

The state commission for women had sought a report from the district collector and the local police on the victim’s complaint and were reportedly “not happy” with the reply, but took no further steps. The collector forwarded her complaint to the district inspector of schools and though Dandasena was found to be guilty after inquiry, no action was taken against him.

Similarly, the victim had met superintendent of police Rajesh Pandit three months ago, seeking action against the guilty, but all the SP did was issue instructions to Tikiri police ASI, Harish Pradhan, for Dandasena’s arrest. Ironically, and tragically, ASI Pradhan is the same man who had reportedly been shielding the alleged culprit all along.

State home secretary Vipin Saxena has now sought a report on the incident from the DGP and assured stern action for any dereliction of duty. DGP Prakash Mishra has said it is too early to conclude whether the case is one of suicide or murder.

Not the only such case

Going by past precedent, the Tikiri case could well end up as just another statistic for the Odisha government. The infamous Pipili rape case in 2011, where the victim was allegedly gangraped and strangled by associates of the local MLA and powerful state minister for agriculture Pradip Maharathi, created a furore that eventually compelled Maharathi to resign. There, too, the victim had dared to give evidence against the local goons in an earlier murder of a girl.

But nothing has happened in the case thus far.

In October 2012, an ayurvedic doctor employed with the state government, who was posted in Bramhagiri, was allegedly harassed and mentally tortured by the local MLA, Sanjay Dasburma, and subsequently found dead under suspicious circumstances on the railway tracks close by. She had allegedly committed suicide. But despite earlier complaints, no action was taken to protect the victim or punish the offender.

In fact, in both Pipili and Bramhagiri cases, Jyoti Panigrahi, the former chairperson of the state women’s commission, drew flak from women’s groups and opposition political parties for ostensibly attempting to shield the guilty.

The death of a 14-year-old schoolgirl from Mahakalapada in Kendrapara district, who was allegedly gangraped and set on fire in July this year at Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar, caused equally widespread protests.

In October this year, a 27-year-old tribal woman from Kuamada village of Banki block in Cuttack district was gangraped by three men when she had gone to collect fodder from the forests. Battered, she is still battling for life at the SCB Medical College Hospital. The three accused were arrested only after locals staged a violent agitation.

Crime against women rising in Odisha

Statistics say Odisha is the sixth largest offender in the country in terms of rape. According to difures collated by the national crime records bureau (NCRB), 1,458 cases were registered across the state last year, of which 838 are still pending for police inquiry.

By the end of 2012, out of total 714 rape cases tried in courts, only 154 offenders had been sentenced. The rest were acquitted.

“It is a disturbing trend – there is no fear in the minds of criminals due lack of strong and quick punishment. Cases go on for years together during which all the societal focus remain on victim, while offender remains unruffled,” says women’s rights activist Anuradha Mohanty. “Odisha needs to demonstrate its strong resolve to arrest this trend.”

According to NCRB, 304 cases were registered for outraging the modesty of women last year but inquiry in 87 is yet to be completed. Of 197 cases tried in court, 90 percent offenders were acquitted.

Odisha also has the dubious distinction of leading the chart in number of dowry-related offences in the country, and is third so far as cases of domestic violence are concerned. Of 4,187 registered cases, chargesheet has not been submitted in 1,045, and only 11 percent of the cases tried have secured convictions.

Conviction in dowry-related death and torture is even worse – 8.9%. Out of 191 cases registered last year, only 17 offenders were convicted; the rest were acquitted. Similarly, the conviction rate in kidnapping cases is an abysmal 7%.

According to the NRCB, 22,988 cases of crimes against women were registered across all police stations in the state last year. Of them, the accused had been charge-sheeted in only 47% cases, and only 553 accused were convicted out of 5,798 tried in court. The remaining 5,245 were acquitted.

These grim statistics notwithstanding, DGP Mishra says women in Odisha are much safer than in other parts of the country.

Not to let the opportunity go by, the opposition parties have upped the ante. Srimantini Jena, president of the state BJP’s women’s wing, and Bijaylakhmi Sahoo of the Odisha Mahila Congress, allege that increasing cases of violence and sex crimes against women is symptomatic of the apathy of the state government towards the plight of women.

Accusing the state government of trivialising women’s issues, leader of opposition in the state assembly, Bhupinder Singh of the Congress, says: “The attitude (of the administration) in such incidents is to sit on them till the public outrage dies down. Then they (the cases) are quietly buried. Unlike Delhi or Mumbai, where such incidents are well covered and followed up in the media, they barely find a mention in the local press in Odisha.”