Webdesk: The Mohan Majhi-led BJP government in Odisha is facing growing public anger after a 20-year-old female Odisha student from Fakir Mohan Autonomous College in Balasore, India, attempted to end her life on Saturday, July 12, reportedly after being ignored in a sexual harassment complaint.
The young woman and Odisha student, a second-year student enrolled in the college’s integrated BEd programme, sustained critical burn injuries and is currently being treated at AIIMS Bhubaneswar. Doctors say she has suffered around 90 per cent burns and remains in a very serious condition.
Protests In Odisha After Sexual Abuse Survivor Sets Herself Ablaze on Campus
— The Wire (@thewire_in) July 14, 2025
The student of the Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College, who tried to immolate herself on Saturday, is in critical condition.
Ashutosh Mishra✍️https://t.co/hIdoUzvHou
Dr Ashutosh Biswas, Executive Director at AIIMS, said the medical team is doing all it can to save her life. “We are doing everything possible in this case,” he told reporters.
Chief Minister of the Indian state of Odisha Mohan Majhi visited the hospital and assured that she will receive the best treatment available. He added that if necessary, she would be flown to Delhi for further care.
Majhi also promised the strictest possible action against those responsible, once a probe committee, set up by the higher education department, submits its findings.
Meanwhile, some took to the streets following news of the incident. BJD workers attempted to march to the Chief Minister’s residence, while Congress supporters held demonstrations in different parts of Bhubaneswar.
According to sources, the student had earlier filed a complaint with college principal Dillip Ghosh, accusing assistant professor Samira Kumar Sahu of sexually harassing her and threatening to sabotage her academic career.
The matter was passed to the internal complaints committee, but no visible action was taken.
Frustrated by what she reportedly saw as neglect and indifference from the college authorities, the woman set herself on fire near the main college building on Saturday. She was moved to Bhubaneswar for treatment in critical condition.
The state government has now suspended the college principal, and Sahu, who also headed the college’s education department, has been arrested on charges of sexual harassment and abetment of suicide.
The incident, coming shortly after two major rape cases elsewhere in the state, has deeply embarrassed the BJP government. Opposition leaders are demanding the resignation of Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj, even as he announced a high-level inquiry and promised future safeguards.
Balasore MP and former Union minister Pratap Sarangi admitted the girl had approached him. He said he had asked the college principal to take proper action and had encouraged the student to stay strong. He accused the college of being negligent and failing to provide the support she needed.
BJD MLA Byomkesh Ray also demanded the higher education minister’s resignation, calling the government “callous.” “She went to everyone for help to save her dignity. This government did not act,” Ray said, as he joined his party’s protest.
Snehangini Chhuria, a senior BJD leader and ex-minister, criticised the ruling party’s attitude towards women. “They have no respect for women. That is why such crimes are increasing,” she said.
This gut-wrenching case lays bare the deep-rooted injustice and growing crisis of sexual violence in India.
A young student, driven to the brink after her cries for help were ignored, set herself on fire, becoming yet another symbol of a system that continues to fail its women. Her tragic ordeal is not an isolated incident but a chilling reminder of the rising cases of rape and the alarming indifference of institutions meant to protect.
BJD chief and Leader of the Opposition Naveen Patnaik also expressed concern and urged Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati to intervene.
A young student resorting to self-immolation in one of #Odisha’s premier Universities is both shocking and deeply distressing. I fervently pray to Lord Jagannatha for her swift recovery from the grievous burn injuries.
— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) July 13, 2025
She was allegedly subjected to relentless sexual harassment…
The state Congress has already been campaigning against what it calls the BJP government’s failure to protect women, with an increase in reported rapes, kidnappings, and sexual harassment cases.
In the past month alone, Odisha has seen two high-profile gang-rape cases, one of them at a popular tourist site.
Although Modi’s BJP leaders are publicly silent on the Balasore case, party insiders privately admit that such incidents are severely harming the party’s image, particularly among women, a key voter base.
The attempted suicide of the Balasore student is a heartbreaking reflection of the brutal reality faced by countless women in India today. Despite repeated pleas for justice, her voice was met with silence, forcing her to take a desperate, irreversible step.
As cases of rape and harassment surge across the country, this incident exposes not just individual cruelty but a collapsing system that continues to abandon survivors when they need it most.
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