'Everyone forced her to die': Father of Odisha student who died after self-immolation

The 20-year-old student's father alleged that everyone conspired against her as she used to raise her voice in college and they did not like that.

The father of the 20-year-old Balasore student, who succumbed to her injuries on Monday after attempting self-immolation, has alleged 'conspiracy' behind her death, saying that "everyone together forced my daughter to die".

The 20-year-old student, who was battling for her life at AIIMS Bhubaneswar with 90% burns, succumbed to her injuries late on Monday night. (PTI)

The student of Fakir Mohan Autonomous College in Odisha's Balasore had set herself on fire on Saturday to protest the inaction over her allegations of sexual harassment by a professor at her college. With 90 per cent burns, she was battling for her life in AIIMS Bhubaneswar, but unfortunately, she passed away late on Monday night.

A medical bulletin issued by the hospital said that despite sufficient resuscitation and all possible supportive management, she could not be revived and was declared clinically dead at 11:46 pm on July 14.

Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi expressed grief over her demise and vowed strict action against the culprits.

'Believe it was a conspiracy'

Earlier in the day, her father had told news agency ANI that the accused professor had two to four complaints against him. He added that college authorities asked him to wait for the internal committee report. "My demand is that the culprit should be given the harshest punishment."

Speaking to ANI later, the deceased student's father alleged that his daughter's death was murder, and that there was a conspiracy behind it.

"Everyone together forced my daughter to die. Isn't that murder? I believe it was a conspiracy because she used to raise her voice in college, and they didn't like it," he said.

The father further added that they all conspired to force his daughter to take the extreme step. He asked why the 20-year-old tried to kill herself right after she came out of the Principal's room. "Something must have happened inside...What happened inside? Why was she called in alone? Why wasn't I or my son called?... I request the government to acknowledge that my daughter didn't die, she was killed, and everyone should be charged with murder," he told ANI.

Professor arrested, principal suspended

Notably, police arrested assistant professor Samir Kumar Sahu, who heads the education department at the Balasore college, hours after the girl student attempted suicide.

In her grievance to the internal complaints committee, the girl had alleged that Sahu had been asking her for "favours" and had threatened to destroy her academic career if she did not oblige. Though the committee assured her that action would be taken in seven days, nothing happened. She had also filed a complaint with the local police.

After she attempted self-immolation, the college principal, Dilip Ghosh, was also suspended by the higher education department over his failure to take action in the case.

The girl had also approached Balasore MP Pratap Sarangi over the issue, but no action was taken. Principal Ghosh, however, said that no evidence of sexual exploitation was found by the internal committee.

Odisha's higher education minister, Suryabanshi Suraj, said that owing to the sensitivity of the case, a high-level inquiry committee has been constituted to probe the matter. He said that further action will be taken on the basis of the panel's report.