Youths strip woman sarpanch in Orissa

This is the second such incident in the state in the recent times after a lady sarpanch of Kalarahanga gram panchayat under Bhubaneswar block was stripped by two youths over repair of a road.

According to Jagatsinghpur police, three youths of Mandasahi village went to the panchayat office in the afternoon on Monday and demanded Rs 10,000 as `chanda’ by showing a revolver when money was being distributed in lieu of bills to be cleared under the Jawahar Rojgar Yojana. They left the panchayat office threatening the lady sarpanch with dire consequences after she declined to give them money. Apprehending untoward incident, she stopped distributionwork and left for home along with the panchayat secretary.

However, they were stopped by the youths at a secluded place on the Bianla-Kantila Road. They first assaulted the panchayat secretary who fell on the ground and later stripped the sarpanch besides assaulting her. Both sustained injuries, police said. The youths decamped with Rs 37,000.