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Odisha: 13-year-old succumbs to burn injuries, fourth such death in a month
Police said the girl, a Class 8 student, had gone to her maternal uncle’s house to meet her mother and celebrate Raksha Bandhan.
A 13-year-old in Odisha’s Bargarh district succumbed to burn injuries barely a few hours after she allegedly set herself on fire on Monday, making this the fourth such incident within a month in the state.
Police said the girl, a Class 8 student from Paikmal block of the district, had gone to her maternal uncle’s house over the weekend to meet her mother and celebrate Raksha Bandhan.
“Around 7:30am on Monday, she reportedly went to a field near the house and set herself on fire after pouring petrol on her body. Some villagers who saw her managed to douse the fire, but not before she suffered serious burn injuries. She was taken to VIMSAR medical college in Burla where she succumbed to her injuries,” Bargarh superintendent of police Abhilash G said.
The exact reason behind the incident is still unclear and a probe is underway. The girl’s father works as a migrant labourer, while her mother has been staying at her parents’ house, the police said.
On July 12, a 20-year-old woman student in Balasore’s FM College set herself on fire in her college campus and died at AIIMS Bhubaneswar on July 14. On July 19, a minor girl was allegedly set on fire by three miscreants in Balanga and died at AIIMS Delhi on August 2.
On August 6, a third year female undergraduate student’s charred body was found from her house in Pattamundai (rural) police station area of Kendrapara district.
After the Balasore incident, the state government had banned oil pumps in the state from providing petrol in plastic bottles after the victim had allegedly bought the fuel in a bottle.
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