ICC sought removal of teacher accused of harassing her, says coordinator

THE coordinator of Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College's Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) on Tuesday said the panel recommended removal of Samira Kumar Sahoo, accused of sexually harassing a female student, leading to her self-immolation death, from the post of Head of Integrated BEd.

- PBD BUREAU/PTI

However, the reason for seeking his removal was his "strict approach" and not sexually harassing students, ICC Coordinator Jayshree Mishra said.

Earlier in the day, the father of the deceased held members of the ICC "solely responsible” for his daughter's death, accusing them of preparing a "biased report" in connection with her allegation, which led her to set herself on fire on the campus on July 12.

The 20-year-old woman, a second-year student of Integrated BEd, suffered 95 per cent burns and succumbed at the AIIMS Bhubaneswar late Monday night.

The deceased student, on July 1, lodged a complaint with the ICC against Sahoo, charging him with asking for “favour” from her and mentally harassing her for not accepting his proposal.