The kidnapping and subsequent murder of a 24-year-old Mamata Meher of Jharni village under the Turekela block of Balangir district have sent shockwaves across the state. As lurid details of the abduction and murder come forth, BJP’s Baijayant Jay Panda has launched a scathing attack against Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha for shielding its minister who is allegedly involved in the case.
“Read & weep. A woman murdered, girls allegedly exploited, a state in turmoil, but @Naveen_Odisha refuses to drop this guy from his govt. Mamita Meher case: Odisha Minister used to visit girls hostel, Govind Sahu ran sex racket says student [Listen]” Panda tweeted along with sharing a report on the case.
Read & weep. A woman murdered, girls allegedly exploited, a state in turmoil, but @Naveen_Odisha refuses to drop this guy from his govt
— Baijayant Jay Panda (@PandaJay) October 22, 2021
Mamita Meher case: Odisha Minister used to visit girls hostel, Govind Sahu ran sex racket says student [Listen] https://t.co/1K6eJi3J0E
Jay Panda referred to an article, which quoted a student of the school where Mamita worked as a teacher, and who claimed that Captain Dibya Shankar Mishra used to visit the Girl’s Hostel. The student also alleged that Govind Sahu, managing committee president of the school and prime accused in the murder case, was running a sex racket.
Mishra is said to have close ties with Govind Sahu and there have been several videos and photos of him attending events at the school in the past and lavishing praises on Sahu.
The student also revealed that though they were barred from keeping mobile phones on them but Govind made the exception for girls who were a part of the racket and allowed them to keep mobile phones in the school premises.
The abduction and murder of Sunshine English school teacher Mamita Meher
Mamita Meher, a teacher at Sunshine English Medium School, had gone missing on October 8. As per reports, she was allegedly called by Govind to come to the school for some official work. She was asked to come to Chandotara in the Balangir district from where she would be given a lift in the school president’s car.
After reaching Chandotara by bus, the teacher went missing and her mobile phone was switched off. Unable to trace Mamita’s whereabouts, her concerned family members lodged a missing person complaint with Kegaon police in Kalahandi and Turekela police.
Another complaint was lodged in Sindhekela police station. The police acted on the complaints and launched a search operation to locate the teacher. During the probe, the police seized Govind’s car. In a press conference, DIG (northern range) Deepak Kumar said Balangir Police visited Kalahandi district and examined the CCTV footage in various places to ascertain the movement of the victim and the prime accused.
“Statements, material, scientific and technical evidence along with the confession of Gobinda Sahu reveal that it was a pre-planned murder and that he killed Mamita either by smothering or strangulating her inside his car on October 8 while they were returning from Bhawanipatna to Kegaon,” said the DIG.
Reportedly, the teacher was aware of the two extra-marital affairs of the prime accused Govind Sahu and had warned him with exposing his illicit relationships. In a presser on Wednesday, a top cop involved in the investigation revealed Mamita’s murder was a revenge act by Govind, who was holding a grudge against the teacher for her audacity to threaten him with exposing his extra-marital affairs.
Meher’s body was chopped into pieces and disposed off at an under-construction site of the school
11 days after she had gone missing, on October 19, Mamita’s remains were found. Bones of her body were exhumed from a stadium construction site of Sunshine English Medium School at Mahaling in Kalahandi district, where Mamita was working as a teacher. The body was chopped in a bid to burn it easily, the official said. At the same time, police suspects involvement of Govind’s associates in disposing off the body.
In the press conference organised on Wednesday this week, the police said Mamita was strangled to death by Govind inside his car on October 8. He then took the body to the under-construction stadium site of the school for disposal. There, he burnt the body with the help of cardboard and tyre before burying it.
On Wednesday, Govind was produced in a court in Gandamunda, which allowed the police to take the accused on a five-day remand. “Complete reconstruction of the crime sequence will be carried out. This case is being closely monitored by senior officers, its chargesheet will be filed soon and trial would be conducted in a fast track court,” said the DIG.
