Schoolchildren protest against the murder of an eight-year-old girl in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 21: The state Assembly today witnessed an uproar over the alleged rape and murder of a minor girl in the city yesterday, forcing two adjournments.

Opposition Congress and BJP members stormed the well of the House demanding a statement from the chief minister. Yesterday afternoon, the body of a eight-year-old girl was found under a bush at Salia Sahi slum in the city. It was suspected that the girl was sexually assaulted before being killed by a 25-year-old man from the area. Soon after the news broke, hundreds of people had gathered at Capital Hospital in the city.

Raising the issue in the House during Zero Hour, senior BJP member K.V. Singh Deo alleged that the police administration and the BJD had tried to hush up the incident. The police picked up the girl’s body and sent it to Capital Hospital without informing the parents of the victim.

Singh Deo, who had visited the Hospital last night, said: “The post-mortem was conducted at 9pm in a hush-hush manner ignoring the norms about not carrying out autopsy after sunset.”

Even after the post-mortem, the police delayed handing over of the body to the parents despite their repeated pleas. The police said the body could be handed over to them only in the morning. However, mayor Ananta Narayan Jena and three other councillors appeared at the hospital and called her father and settled for Rs 20,000 as compensation, he said.

“This is shameful. The life of a girl is valued at Rs 20,000 only,” he said.

Singh Deo urged the Speaker to adjourn the House and direct the chief minister to make a statement as he happens to be the home minister. He must explain the reason why the post-mortem was conducted at 9pm. He also demanded that the autopsy report be made public.

Congress member Anup Sai said the law-and-order situation had deteriorated over the past few months. Even minor girls were being raped, murdered and burnt to death. “It’s unfortunate that such incidents are taking place in the capital when the Assembly is in session,” he said.

Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh said: “It seems there is no rule of law in the state. The chief minister should have made a suo motto statement in the House since it is in session.”

The Congress members too trooped into the well shouting slogans demanding safety of women and adjournment of the House till the chief minister made a statement. Finding it difficult to run the House, the Deputy Speaker adjourned the Assembly twice to restore normalcy.

Later, the chief minister made a statement in the House and expressed his grief over the “shocking” incident. He said that the accused, Kiran Kumar Sahu, had been arrested.

“I urge that the instant case be chargesheeted without delay. I also request the judiciary to take up the case on a fast-track mode and complete the trial early,” said Naveen.