Odisha Student Sets Self Ablaze: CM Promises Strict Action, Probe Underway

In a spine-chilling episode that sent the state of Odisha into shock, a 20-year-old university student from Balasore tried self-immolation after several months of sex harassment by an assistant professor, according to charges. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has promised the "strictest action" against them, taking responsibility for the administration's inaction despite her repeated appeals.

 

The incident took place in the afternoon on Saturday when the student immolated herself outside the gate of her college. She is at present in critical condition at AIIMS Bhubaneswar with 90–95% burn and on ventilator support in the ICU. Her condition is perilous with various organs, according to the doctors. "The following 24 to 48 hours are crucial," said AIIMS Bhubaneswar executive director Dr Ashutosh Biswas. She is being stabilized by a round-the-clock multidisciplinary group of critical care, plastic surgery, and nephrology experts.

 

Chief Minister Majhi, who spoke to the student at the hospital on Sunday, stated that the government is going to air lift the student to AIIMS Delhi if she is well. "We are trying every possible means to save her. The government is treating this incident with utmost seriousness," he said to the media after meeting with her family.

 

A probe by a committee of the Higher Education Department has been launched, and Majhi assured speedy and exemplary action on the report's basis. "The first step has been taken, but the offenders won't be spared," he asserted.

 

The student, as per the accounts, had complained of continual sexual harassment on the part of the professor, including threats to ruin her academic record and coercive requests for sexual favors. Despite the complaints, no concrete step was initiated by the college authorities, reportedly compelling her to the extent of committing the crime.

 

The incident has evoked collective outrage and fresh calls for strict action to combat sexual harassment at schools and colleges, with calls for the college administrations to be held accountable and reforming grievance redressal mechanisms.