BERHAMPUR: An 80-year-old widow in Ganjam district has been moving from pillar to post for the past 10 years seeking redressal of her grievances. Yet, help of any kind has become elusive. The hapless woman is Padma Maharana of Komond village under Rambha police limits. Her ordeal started when she wanted to sell a patch of her land in the village in 2002.A group of villagers wanted to buy it at a throwaway price which Padma refused. The refusal did not go down well with the villagers who threatened her with dire consequences. Harassed, the woman reported the matter to Rambha police following which, the villagers looted her property and attempted to kill her. Padma managed to escape but has not been able to return to her house till now. After the incident, she again submitted a written complaint to the Rambha police against 15 persons of the village but no action was allegedly taken. She then took shelter at a relative’s house in Bhubaneswar where she approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and also sought help from Governor, Chief Minister and other State Government officials. Neither of them allegedly paid heed. A good Samaritan helped Padma in approaching the JMFC court in Khallikote for justice. The case went on for six years and in 2008, the Rambha Police registered a criminal case on the court’s direction.In February last year, the JMFC court issued directions to the Ganjam SP and the Rambha IIC to recover the loot and arrest the accused. With no step taken again, Padma appealed to the DIG (southern range) R K Sharma who asked the then Chhatrapur SDPO Pradip Kumar Jali and Rambha IIC SLK Prasad to visit the village and execute the court directive. The officials allegedly neither took any action nor submitted any report in the case. On the other hand, the 15 accused persons have obtained anticipatory bail from the Orissa High Court. Recently, she again wrote to the CM, NHRC and other district officials in Rambha stating that she had received information about the accused persons trying to sell off her land. However, she has not received any response in this regard yet.With all hopes shattered, Padma has taken shelter in the Jagannath temple in Puri.
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