Teacher's murder: Accused, three others dismissed from service

Suspended school inspector, who is prime accused in the molestation and murder case of a lady teacher, was dismissed from service along with three others by the Odisha government today.
Besides accused Netrananda Dandasena, two policemen and an official of the school and mass education department were dismissed from service on the charge of dereliction of duty while handling the molestation case of the lady teacher against Dandasena, Chief Secretary J K Mohapatra said.
Rayagada District Inspector of Schools Dambarudhar Behera was dismissed along with police officials - Tikiri police station inspector-in-charge Sujit Kumar Sai and assistant sub-inspector Muralidhar Pradhan in Rayagada district.

The 36-year-old victim was set on fire by an unidentified person on the night of October 27 for allegedly refusing to withdraw the molestation case against Dandsena.
The four had been suspended after the death of the lady teacher on November 1.
Dandsena is the prime accused in both the molestation and murder of the lady teacher, while Behera was suspended for not taking prompt action as soon as he received complaint from the lady teacher.

Official sources said the government action followed the report of a high level committee of school and mass education department which had met the lady teacher at a Vishakhapatanam hospital before her death. The committee had recommended the dismissal of the four government employees after examining the case thoroughly, official sources said.

"The four have been dismissed to give a clear message to government officials across the state that any act of dereliction of duty concerning crime against women will not be tolerated. This is an exemplary action," said school and mass education secretary Usha Padhi.
In a statement before her death, the victim, who hailed from Delang of Puri, had told the local tehsildar that Dandasena had threatened her to withdraw the molestation case lodged by her which she refused.
She had lodged the molestation case against Dandsena in July, 2013.