Normal life was affected in Odisha's Kandhamal district on Thursday due to a dawn-to-dusk shutdown called by a local outfit, seeking justice and compensation for a tribal girl who recently delivered a baby at a state-run school hostel in Daringbadi.
Shops, business establishments, banks, offices and educational institutions remained shut across the district as the bandh supporters held demonstrations at various places, a police officer said.
Vehicles stayed off the roads in the district headquarters town of Phulbani as the activists of Kandhamal Suraksha Abhiyan staged a a blockade, he said.
Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Basant Sahu said adequate arrangements were made to ensure that no untoward incident takes place in Kandhamal during the bandh.
The 14-year-old student of the Sevashram High School in Daringbadi had last week delivered a girl, who died two days after its birth.
Police have arrested a third-year college student - a resident of Takalmaha village - for allegedly raping the teenager.
The Odisha government has suspended the school's headmistress, Radharani Dalei, and three assistant superintendents of the institution in connection with the incident.
The 12-hour shutdown on Thursday received supported from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which sought the resignation of state ST and SC Development Minister Ramesh Majhi and Women and Child Development Minister Prafulla Samal over the incident.
They also demanded adequate compensation for the family of the victim, immediate transfer of officials including the collector and a judicial probe into the incident.
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