Odisha pupil, who set herself on fire, succumbs to injuries-OxBig News Network

The Odisha college student, who set herself ablaze following alleged sexual harassment by a professor, died at AIIMS hospital in Bhubaneswar.

The second-year BEd student of Fakir Mohan College, Balasore, had accused the Head of Education Department, Samira Kumar Sahu, of sexual harassment. Alleging inaction against the professor, she took the extreme step on Saturday and suffered 95 per cent burns. She died on Monday night, after fighting for her life for three days.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) set up a four-member fact-finding panel to look into the incident, officials said on Tuesday.

UGC Secretary Sudeep Singh Jain said, “A four-member panel has been formed to examine the circumstances surrounding the incident, including availability and effectiveness of factors such as institutional policies, grievance redressal mechanism, anti-harassment measures adopted and student support systems.”

“The panel will also assess compliance with the stipulated regulatory provisions, and suggest measures to prevent such incidents in future,” he added.

The panel will be headed by Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University Professor and UGC member Raj Kumar Mittal. The other members of the panel include former UGC member Sushma Yadav, former Gujarat University vice-chancellor Neerja Gupta and UGC Joint Secretary Ashima Mangla.

“The panel would conduct onsite assessment to verify the actual implementation of measures adopted by the institution for ensuring safety of female students and well-being policies, beyond documented compliance. The members will do engagement with stakeholders, including students, faculty administrators, and support staff to assess institutional culture, student experience and challenges faced,” Jain said.

Meanwhile, the victim’s father held members of her college’s Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) “solely responsible” for her death by self-immolation. He alleged that the ICC members prepared a “biased report” following her complaint of sexual harassment, leading her to immolate herself.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said all culprits in the case would face the strictest punishment under the law. He also announced an ex gratia of Rs 20 lakh for the family of the deceased student.

After conducting the post-mortem, the student’s body was sent to her native village, Palasia in Balasore district, amid protest by members of the opposition BJD and Congress on the hospital premises.

Sahu as well as college principal Dilip Ghose have been arrested in the case.

Blaming the BJP for the death of the 22-year-old student, Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged silence over the incident.

Taking to X, he further said, “The death of a daughter fighting for justice in Odisha is a direct murder by the BJP system. She raised her voice against sexual exploitation; but instead of getting justice, she was threatened, harassed and humiliated.”