Athagarh: More than 14 months have passed since the allegedly suspicious death of BJB College girl student Ruchika Mohanty. Her mother today vowed that she will keep fighting for justice.
Agriculture Minister and local BJD MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain is allegedly spreading misinformation that he has given Rs 16 lakh to Ruchika’s mother to keep mum over the death. However, he cancelled a meeting when the woman from Kakhadi panchayat sought clarification from him yesterday.
“I asked the Minister, Sir! How much money you have given me and through whom? He didn’t give any answer to my question and rather went away silently from the stage and later stopped the meeting. It is up to the person in front of me to decide whether he will reply to my query or not, but I will keep asking wherever he will hold meetings in the panchayat in the future,” Ruchika’s mother stated.
“I had not gone to meet him for a house under Indira Awas Yojana or for the State government pension. Even, my intention was not to defame the Minister nor I am seeking justice through him. I am not scared of anyone and will fight my battle alone,” the elderly woman Bidyutprava asserted.
Worthy to mention, the Plus III First-Year student of History (Hons.) was found dead in her hostel room of the college on July 2 last year.
Ruchika’s mother previously met DCP-Bhubaneswar after a mobile phone of the deceased girl returned from Singapore, when data in it could not be decoded to accumulate any evidence pertaining to her death. The woman wanted to keep her daughter’s phone as a memory and hence she requested the senior cop to return the gadget to her as it would not be of any use for probe purposes.
The DCP had outrightly refused to hand over the mobile phone for reasons not known yet.
Ruchika’s mother used to work as a worker of the party under Minister Swain in Kakhadi panchayat.
Amid the mystery shrouding the death of Ruchika, a group clash erupted yesterday when the Minister visited the panchayat under Athagarh block of Cuttack district to inaugurate a few projects.
