Cuttack: National Commission for Schedule Caste (NCSC) Director Diwakar Basak appeared unconvinced with the progress made in the police investigation into the alleged rape case of a Dalit girl of Pipili in Odisha`s Puri district.
The 19-year-old girl, who is admitted at SCB Medical College and Hospital here, is in lying in a coma.
After visiting the hospital twice in last fortnight, Basak said he is satisfied with the treatment given to the girl but was not convinced by the police inquiry into the
criminal aspect of the case.
"I am not convinced with the police investigation in the case...The state government needs to do a lot in this particular aspect," he told reporters here yesterday.
He said the girl was now getting better treatment in the Cuttack hospital where experts from AIIMS, New Delhi and other neurologists and music therapists were attending to her.
"Her recovery from comatose is now our first priority. But at the same time, we cannot ignore proper police investigation into the matter," he said.
The victim is in a coma ever since the alleged rape took place on November 28 last year.
"She is not responding to the treatment. We cannot predict as to how long she would take to recover," said Hospital Medical Officer BN Maharana, who was with Basak.
The Crime Branch, probing the case since January 10, arrested the four accused named in the FIR lodged on January 9 following the intervention of State Human Rights Commission.
Under attack for allegedly shielding the accused in the case, Agriculture Minister Pradip Maharathy had resigned on January 16 on "moral ground".
PTI
