ASSEMBLY POLL '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS '98
ARCHIVES

Anjana Mishra may take to politics for way out of nightmare

Arup Chanda in Calcutta

The main problem for Anjana Mishra, victim of a brutal gangrape in Orissa, at present, is loneliness. Separated from her husband and her parents who left Bhubaneswar, following her case against deposed Orissa advocate general Indrajit Ray, Anjana lives alone at her parent's home in Bhubaneswar.

Except some friends and womens' groups, no one has bothered to inquire after this 29-year-old housewife even after the news about her gang-rape was splashed all over the media.

"You cannot imagine how bitter I feel. Since June last year I have been staying alone in this house. There is nobody, not even maids, with whom I can talk. At night I am totally alone. The policemen are inside the tents in front of my house. I feel very insecure," Anjana said during an interview to Rediff On The Net.

So what exactly happened on the night of June 9?

"My lawyer, Debashish Panda, had been avoiding me over the last one month. Indrajit Ray could obtain interim bail ex parte as Panda did not appear in court. I thought of going to Cuttack and catching him by surprise. Since 1630 hours that day I had been telling the police guards to inform my personal security officer that I will be going out.

"After waiting till 2030 hours I requested Sutanu Guru, a television journalist who is also my friend, to accompany me to Cuttack. We hired a private taxi and left my residence in full view of the police guards who did not stop us from going.

"We chose a link road to Cuttack but because of heavy traffic by the time we could travel the nearly 15 kilometres to Barang it was past 2200 hours. Since it became too late we decided to come back and while on our way back we were stopped by three men on two-wheelers."

Anjana denied that they stopped at a dhaba at Barang for tea. However, on the spot inquiries revealed that they did have tea and papad at the dhaba where the accused, Pradip Sahoo alias Paria, Tuna Mohanty and Biban Biswal, were consuming liquor.

The trio asked the driver whether the couple were married and getting a negative reply decided to strike. The moment Anjana and Guru left the dhaba to return to Bhubaneswar the three men overtook their car and obstructed the road with their two-wheelers.

"We first thought it to be a robbery. Both Guru and I offered them our belongings including our cellphones. But they held Guru and the driver at gunpoint and took me out. Guru was hit and his spectacles fell off. The three men raped me in turns while Guru and the driver were held with a revolver and a bhojali.

"While I was being raped the men repeatedly said I would have been a 'Queen of Orissa' had I not taken on Chief Minister J B Patnaik."

Guru has alleged that the men knew his brother was in the Indian Air Force and told him to fly out of Bhubaneswar the next day.

After raping Anjana the three men fled, after threatening them with dire consequences if they reported the matter.

"We immediately drove to Cuttack and I went to my lawyer who smugly told me that he could not help. I then went to the Mahila police station in Cuttack and lodged an FIR. I was taken to a hospital where a lady doctor examined me and confirmed the rape," Anjana narrated.

Subsequently Pradip Sahoo was arrested. Anjana and the driver have also identified the accused at a test identification parade at Chowduar jail in Cuttack on Friday. However, the other two accused are still at large.

While the theory of 'conspiracy by Patnaik' does not hold water, it is also a fact that both Pradip and Tuna Mohanty are Congress workers. Inhabitants of Barang said the two were known anti-socials and during the last elections they had campaigned for the Congress.

However, following a furore, Congressmen, who are Patnaik's supporters, vehemently denied the fact. But then, Patnaik's detractors hold him responsible and are highlighting this incident to prove that there is no law and order in Orissa.

Anjana says she is not bothered about what the politicians are saying. "Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member, Sitaram Yechury, came to my place. Naveen Patnaik, the Union steel and mines minister , spoke to me about the incident. What I want is justice and justice is being delayed in my case," she lamented.

Anjana is now contemplating writing to international human rights organisations about her case of molestation against Indrajit Ray, who she says is "still scot-free" and her subsequent gang-rape "at the behest of J B Patnaik."

Though at this moment Anjana has no political ambitions, she admits, "I know if I join politics, contest and win elections I will be able to effectively champion the cause of the hapless women of Orissa. Look, the next day there was another gang-rape near Raj Bhavan and the culprits have not been arrested. I want to put an end to this and for that I can go to any length".

As such, in her quest for justice, politics seems to be the last resort for Anjana.

Tell us what you think of this report