572 tribal girls, women raped in Odisha in five years: Development minister

As many 572 tribal girl students and women have become victims of rape during the last five years in Odisha, the SC-ST Development Minister Nityananda Gond told state Assembly on Friday. In a written reply to a query by Congress legislator Tara Prasad Bahinipati, Gond said the 572 tribal girls had become victims of rape under Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, during the past five years. Out of the 572 rape cases, trials have been completed in 32 cases, while chargesheets have been filed in 509 cases, he said. Gond said that another 31 cases are under investigation.