A 20-year-old second-year B.Ed student at Fakir Mohan Autonomous College in Balasore, Odisha, passed away late Monday night at AIIMS Bhubaneswar after succumbing to injuries sustained from self-immolation on Saturday. The student set herself on fire in an apparent protest against the college’s failure to address her allegations of sexual harassment by a professor, according to reports.
The young woman’s drastic action followed what she claimed was persistent inaction by college authorities regarding her complaint against the professor. Her father, a clerk at a local college, that his daughter had urged him to file an FIR with the police last week, expressing distrust in the college’s internal inquiry process. The student’s allegations pointed to a senior professor, against whom multiple complaints had reportedly been lodged.
In response to the incident, police arrested Dilip Ghosh, the principal of Fakir Mohan Autonomous College, who had been suspended for allegedly shielding the accused professor, Samir Kumar Sahu, and threatening the student with rustication. Sahu was also arrested following the student’s self-immolation.
The tragedy has drawn significant attention, with Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi visiting AIIMS Bhubaneswar on Sunday to review the student’s treatment. Majhi vowed that those responsible would face strict punishment. Additionally, President Droupadi Murmu visited the student at AIIMS on Monday evening, hours before her death.
The student’s father expressed frustration over the college’s handling of the situation, telling ANI that the internal committee’s delays and pressure to withdraw the complaint exacerbated his daughter’s distress. Protests erupted in Balasore and Bhubaneswar, with BJD workers demonstrating outside AIIMS Bhubaneswar as the student’s body was taken for postmortem.
The incident has spotlighted the effectiveness of internal complaint mechanisms mandated under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013, with the National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Women taking cognizance of the case. Odisha’s Crime Branch has launched a separate investigation.