UGC panel flags lapses by Odisha college in student immolation case

A fact-finding committee set up by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to investigate the death of a 20-year-old student in July in Odisha’s Balasore district has found “serious lapses”, “gross negligence”, and “insensitivity” by the administration of her college in handling repeated sexual harassment complaints, HT has learnt.

- Sanjay Maurya

The 20-year-old second-year student of Fakir Mohan College in Balasore set herself on fire on July 12 and succumbed to her injuries two days later, sparking massive outrage across the country. In a complaint on July 1, the victim had alleged that the head of her department, Samir Kumar Sahoo, was asking her for “favours” and threatened to destroy her academic career if she did not oblige.

But the UGC panel found that former principal Dilip Ghosh and the college's Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) dismissed the second-year student's allegations as “politically motivated” because of her affiliation with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

“The victim's repeated complaints were ignored by the college administration and ICC, which dismissed her concerns as politically motivated because she was associated with the ABVP, even though the accused teacher had faced similar complaints earlier and was once suspended,” a member of the committee told HT.

Describing the victim as a bright student active in dance, debate, and martial arts, the panel member added, “No one from the college administration tried to save her when she set herself on fire.”