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Crime Branch probe ordered into death of medico

CUTTACK: Owing to mounting pressure, the State Government on Sunday ordered Crime Branch investigation into the death of Lopamudra Mohapatra, an MBBS student of SCB Medical College here. The body of the 20-year-old girl, a native of Balasore district was found hanging in her hostel room on Wednesday last.

Following this announcement, the MBBS students here who had threatened to boycott classes from Monday have decided against it. "We were informed by our college principal that the Government has handed over the case to crime branch police as per our demand and hence we have decided not to boycott the classes as was planned earlier", said the college students’ union president Sanjay Das.

Not satisfied with the progress made by the police in investigating the case, several political parties, including the CPI(M) and Congress, had demanded the crime branch probe. The medical college students had also taken out a rally and demanded the same. The relatives of Lopamudra, who believe that their ward was murdered, had been also demanding Crime branch enquiry since beginning. The police, on the other hand, are still maintaining that the girl had committed suicide. "Basing on circumstantial evidences, it appears that the girl had committed suicide", the local police head Devesh Biswal reiterated on Sunday.

Meanwhile, in order to build up further pressure and ensure that the culprit was punished, some students of the college met State Women’s Commission chairperson Namita Panda on Sunday and appraised her of the situation. Ms. Panda reportedly assured the students that the Commission would soon send a team to visit the college and meet the authorities to ascertain the facts. She also assured the students that the Commission would urge the Government to ensure a thorough investigation into the death of the MBBS student. The students also decided to meet the state human rights commission on Monday.

A group medical college student had also met the State Health Secretary Chinmay Basu on Saturday and handed over their memorandum of demands. The students are demanding a compensation of Rs 15 lakhs to the family of Lopamudra who was studying third-year MBBS.

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