Bhubaneshwar: After battling for life for almost 55 hours, an undergraduate female student, who set herself ablaze after her complaint of prolonged sexual harassment by a teacher was not addressed in a government-run autonomous college in Odisha’s Balasore district, succumbed to burn injuries late on Monday night.
"Despite the best efforts of a team of doctors, we could not save her. She died at 11.47 pm. She had suffered over 90% burns, and there was multiple organ failure. The doctors tried their best to maintain organ function artificially as long as possible. But they failed to revive her", said an official of AIIMS-Bhubaneswar, where she was admitted on Saturday.
Deeply traumatised over an assistant professor seeking sexual favours and threatening to sabotage her academic career, the undergraduate female student at the Fakir Mohan College in Balasore had set herself afire by pouring petrol on July 12 right in front of the principal’s chamber.
The victim had brought the matter to the notice of college authorities and local police. She had tagged her ‘X’ post to CM, the Union education minister, and the state’s higher education minister, besides the director general of police, but to no avail.
The incident has sparked widespread protest across the state as the state authorities rushed to control damage by arresting the accused teacher and the college principal.
The shocking episode has triggered a massive public and political outrage. The Opposition BJD demanded the resignation of the higher education minister, while the Congress held the state BJP government responsible and demanded a judicial probe.
