3 min readBhubaneswarJan 1, 2025 06:57 AM IST
First published on: Jan 1, 2025 at 06:57 AM IST
The Odisha Police Tuesday arrested four people in Balasore after a video of a group of people tying two tribal women to a pole and accusing them of religious conversions triggered a political row in the state.
The police have identified the arrested people as Pitambar Biswal, Prasanta Kumar Nayak, Jayanta Kumar Nayak and Badal Kumar Panda. The arrest came days after a video purportedly showed two women being accused of forcibly converting tribals by a group of people surrounding them. The incident occurred in Chhankhanpur village under Balasore’s Remuna police station on December 26.
Balasore DIG Satyajit Naik said the police immediately rescued the victims from the spot.
“Police visited the team with the help of a scientific (sic) team. Proactive and appropriate actions were taken by the district police to maintain the law and order in the area,” Naik told reporters.
Significantly, police had registered two cases in connection with the incident – one against the two women and one against the group of people. Among those arrested Tuesday is Badal Kumar Panda, the complainant in the counter case filed against the women.
The two women were booked under Section 4 of Odisha Freedom of Religion Act, 1967 and Section 299 (deliberate and malicious insult of a religion), Section 3(5) (joint criminal liability) and Section 351 (2) (criminal intimidation) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) based on a complaint by Badal Kumar Panda of Nilagiri area in Balasore district.
The police also booked 10-15 people under various sections of Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and the BNS.
In his complaint to the police, Panda claimed that the women were “forcibly converting” a man to Christianity “by threatening him” in his home at Chhankhanpur village and that village residents had “restrained” the accused.
However, in his cross complaint, the man who was allegedly being forcibly converted claimed the two women were known to him and that the crowd had “outraged their modesty by dragging them and tying them to a pillar”
“They abused them over their caste and assaulted them,” he alleged in his complaint.
On Tuesday, the police said they have recorded statements by the complainant and the witnesses and that victims in the case had been medically examined. The police also sent a requisition to the civil authorities to furnish the caste particulars of the complainant and victims, Balasore DIG Satyajit Naik said.
The viral video drew outrage, with opposition parties Biju Janata Dal and the Congress targeting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party over it.
The police also booked 10-15 people under various sections of Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and the BNS. (Representative image) 
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