Odisha student dies after self-immolation. Why did she take the extreme step?
The second-year Integrated B.Ed student of Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College had set herself on fire on Saturday, protesting official inaction on her allegations of sexual harassment by the professor in her college.
"The patient was brought to the casualty on July 12 at 5:15 PM by her friend and was resuscitated with IV fluids, IV antibiotics, intubated and put on mechanical ventilation. Despite adequate resuscitation and all possible supportive management, including renal replacement therapy at Burns ICU, she could not be revived and was declared clinically dead at 11:46 PM on July 14," said a medical bulletin issued by AIIMS Bhubaneswar on Tuesday morning.
On Monday evening, President Droupadi Murmu visited the victim in the burns ward in AIIMS Bhubaneswar and met the parents of the girl, assuring all help in her treatment.
Also Read | Odisha governor seeks update on why Balasore student attempted self-immolation
Odisha Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati, who was also present during the President's visit, asked the state government to act with urgency, empathy and a sense of responsibility to prevent such incidents.
Why did she take the extreme step?
The student set herself afire on Saturday just outside the chamber of the college principal after an Internal Complaints Committee of the institution gave a clean chit to the head of the education department, Samir Kumar Sahu, in the sexual harassment charges brought in by her a fortnight ago.
In her complaint, the girl accused Sahu of making sexual advances against her and then threatening to fail her in examinations if she did not give in to her demands. The girl, an active member of RSS-controlled Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, had apprised CM Majhi, union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, national commission for women as well as district police officials about her plight.
The victim's father, a clerk in a local college, said his daughter wanted him to lodge an FIR with local police last week as she did not trust the inquiry process of the college authorities into her sexual harassment allegations.
On Monday, police arrested Dilip Ghosh, the principal of Fakir Mohan Autonomous College in Balasore, who was suspended amid reports that he shielded Sahu from the sexual harassment charges, and even went to the extent of threatening the 20-year-old victim with rustication. Sahu was arrested by the police soon after the girl immolated herself.
The girl's father said his daughter was being harassed by Sahu over the last six months, citing her low attendance.
'She was not keeping well and also had to come back home due to deaths in the family. She also took part in self-defence training sessions in the college as she was a master trainer. When my daughter approached him for improving her attendance, the professor asked her for sexual favours,' he said, adding that his daughter twice attempted to end her life over the serial harassment by the professor.
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