NCW recommends CBI probe into lady teacher`s killing in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: NCW has recommended a CBI probe into the killing of a lady school teacher who refused to withdraw a case of molestation against her senior in Odisha`s Rayagada district. "We have suggested a CBI probe into the killing of the lady teacher as Crime Branch of Odisha Police has failed to investigate the matter," National Commission for Women (NCW) Chairperson Mamata Sharma told a local channel. Sharma said that the NCW was not satisfied with the investigation by the Crime Branch as the person, who poured kerosene on the teacher and set her alight resulting in her death, was yet to be arrested.

She also said that action should be taken against ruling party members named by the victim before her death. The Commission had earlier sent a notice to the state chief Secretary on its recommendation for a CBI investigation and sought a reply within seven days, sources said. The teacher at the upper primary school at Tikiri in Rayagada district, was set on fire on October 28 after she refused to withdraw a case of molestation against Netrananda Dandsena, the then head master of the school, who absconded but was arrested on October 30. The teacher died at a private hospital in Andhra Pradesh on November one. The state government has dismissed four officials, including two policemen, for dereliction in duty in the case. Ruling BJD leader and School and Mass Education minister Rabi Narayan Nanda, however, rejected the NCW`s recommendation. "The Crime Branch is investigating properly. There is no need for another probe," he said.