Family members of Sumitra Rout in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, April 4: The family members of a 20-year-old girl, whose body was recovered from a riverbank in Puri four days after she was kidnapped on March 1, today lodged a complaint with the State Commission for Women and the Odisha Human Rights Commission alleging police inaction.

The family approached the two panels to seek urgent intervention in the matter and demand immediate arrest of the culprits.

Twenty-year-old Sumitra Rout went missing on the afternoon of March 1. Her mother Kabee Rout said she had gone to a local tailor shop, but did not return. “We searched for her everywhere, but did not find her. Her mobile phone was switched off. On the next day, one Trinath Bhoi of nearby Banaalipur called up and said my daughter was with them. He also said one of my neighbours knew about the matter,” said Kabee.

The girl’s family members alleged that Bhoi told them his son was taking Sumitra to the nearby village, Gadanai. He told the girl’s family members to go to the village and take her from there. But when the family members reached the village, it was night and they did not find their daughter.

“We called Bhoi who told us that some hoodlums from Puri had kidnapped my daughter after beating up his son. We were shocked to hear this,” said Krushna Rout, father of the girl. On March 4, the girl’s family members lodged a complaint with the Sadar Police, Puri, saying the girl had been kidnapped.

However, on the evening of March 4, the police recovered a girl’s decomposed body from the banks of the Kanchi river near Bira-Harekrushnapur. The girl’s family members later identified the body as that of Sumitra. Her hands and legs were tied up.

“We suspect our daughter was raped and murdered. We told everything to the police, but they just registered a case of unnatural death. The culprits were not arrested as they have political links,” alleged one of the girl’s relatives.

Superintendent of police, Puri, A.K. Sahu: “We have been waiting for the post-mortem report. Once it is out, the cause of death will be clear and we will take action accordingly.”