Outcry in Odisha: Tragic Self-Immolation Sparks Calls for Accountability

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Amar Patnaik on Tuesday issued a firm call for the BJP-led state government to enact "strictest" measures against the concerned minister as well as local political officials following the self-immolation of a female student in Odisha's Balasore. Patnaik urged an investigation into the roles of Balasore's district collector and superintendent of police (SP).

"... We are all deeply distressed and anguished. The student community in Odisha is completely shocked at this negligence and callousness. A government that refused to listen to a student begging for justice and mercy from sexual harassment by her teacher... She had approached the local MLA, local administration, MP, and the concerned minister, and finally, she tweeted, tagging the CM and the education minister," Patnaik stated. "Nobody listened to her plea for help... Heads must roll. The BJP must take action against the concerned ministers, the MP, and the local political leaders whom she had gone to plead with. She belonged to ABVP. If a member of ABVP cannot be protected in a government led by the BJP, what can be more shocking? ... I wish the government would take the strictest action. The roles of the local district collector and the SP must be probed extensively. The internal complaints committee's report proved inadequate. Their involvement requires a thorough investigation. A judicial inquiry and a crime branch inquiry must be initiated... If the Chief Minister possesses any sympathy for the girl's family, he must call for the education minister's resignation," he articulated.

Further expressing growing concern over the state's educational system, the BJD leader asserted, "The BJD has already voiced its dissent... The Biju Chhatra Janata Dal and Yuva Janta Dal have manifested it on Bhubaneswar's streets. A time has come when it has to permeate every campus. Our state's educational system cannot be allowed to deteriorate to such an extent." The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bhubaneswar earlier confirmed the death of the 20-year-old student from Fakir Mohan Autonomous College in Odisha's Balasore, who had attempted self-immolation, on Monday.

The Department of Burn Centre at AIIMS Bhubaneswar noted in a statement that the patient was brought to casualty on July 12, referred from Balasore District Headquarters Hospital, ultimately admitted to the Burns Centre ICU. "Despite adequate resuscitation and all possible supportive treatment, including renal replacement therapy in the Burns ICU, she could not be revived and was declared clinically dead at 11:46 PM on July 14," detailed the statement.

The 20-year-old student's drastic step followed prolonged sexual harassment by her college's Head of Department, ignored despite her formal complaint and pleas for help from the principal, culminating in this tragic consequence at Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College. (ANI)

(With inputs from agencies.)