Odisha student succumbs to 95% burns, UGC forms a probe panel

A 20-year-old college student, who set herself afire over alleged sexual harassment by a professor in Odisha, succumbed to her injuries, officials said on Tuesday, adding she was cremated in her village in Balasore district.

- Debabrata Mohanty

Hours later, the University Grants Commission (UGC) formed a fact-finding panel to look into incident that has triggered outrage over women’s safety.

The death sparked a massive political slugfest in the eastern state, with leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi calling it an “organised murder by the BJP’s system” and Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan accusing the Congress leader of “playing cheap politics.”

Opposition parties also called an “Odisha Bandh” (statewide shutdown) on July 17 and demanded the resignation of the state higher education minister.

The second-year student at the Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College in Balasore had set herself on fire on July 12, demanding action against assistant professor Samir Kumar Sahoo, who heads the education department at the institute.

The victim has alleged that Sahoo had been asking her for “favours” and had also threatened her to destroy her academic career if she did not oblige. Sahoo was arrested on July 12, while college principal Dilip Ghose was arrested on Monday for attempts to shield the accused.

The victim, who suffered 95% burn injuries, was put on dialysis late on Sunday but her condition failed to improve.