Bhubaneswar: A tragic case of institutional apathy and delayed justice has shaken Odisha after a 20-year-old female student of Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College, Balasore, succumbed to her injuries at AIIMS Bhubaneswar on Monday night. The second-year Integrated B.Ed student had set herself on fire on July 11 after her repeated complaints of sexual harassment against a professor were allegedly ignored for over two weeks. Despite receiving intensive treatment for severe burns covering 95% of her body, the student was declared clinically dead at 11:46 pm on July 14. Her death has sparked outrage, political uproar, and renewed calls for accountability in educational institutions.
The incident has triggered a political storm in Odisha, with opposition parties including the Congress and BJD staging protests inside the AIIMS campus, accusing the government of shielding culprits and delaying justice. Higher Education Minister Suraj Suryabanshi is facing mounting demands for resignation. Two key college officials—HoD Samira Kumar Sahu and Principal Dilip Ghose—have been arrested. President Droupadi Murmu, present at AIIMS for a convocation event, made an unscheduled visit to the burn ward, highlighting the gravity of the situation. According to the student’s family and locals, she had pleaded for justice at every level, including approaching MLAs and Union ministers, but her voice remained unheard.
On Tuesday, her body was cremated in her native village Palasia, Balasore, amid massive public mourning. Thousands gathered to bid farewell to a young woman remembered as intelligent, courageous, and socially active—especially during natural disasters in her flood-prone region. Family members and villagers expressed anger, saying the student was mentally strong and never one to give up. They firmly believe that she was driven to take her life only because of systemic failure and unaddressed trauma. “She died fighting,” said her father, weeping at the crematorium. As Odisha reels from this heartbreaking loss, the case has become a national flashpoint on gender safety, institutional negligence, and the urgent need for reform in campus grievance redressal mechanisms.
