Balasore Student Succumbs to Injuries After Self-immolation

The 20-year-old girl had suffered 90–95 per cent burns, many deep enough to fatally damage her lungs and kidneys. Despite aggressive medical efforts, including renal replacement therapy and 24/7 monitoring by a team of eight specialists, doctors confirmed her death at 11:46 p.m. on July 14.

The young woman’s desperate act of self-immolation outside her college principal’s office on July 12 shook Odisha’s conscience. Eyewitnesses say she doused herself in petrol and lit the fire while protesting in full public view. Her last act was a cry for justice — a response. However, she felt the silence of the system had failed her again and again.

She had named her alleged harasser: Sameer Ranjan Sahoo, head of the education department. According to her family and peers, Sahoo subjected her to months of harassment, coercion, and threats to her academic future unless she complied with his inappropriate demands. When she finally mustered the courage to speak out, her complaint — like so many others — was allegedly buried in the institution’s bureaucracy and met with intimidation. She was blamed for bringing false charges against the faculty and allegedly threatened with dire consequences, including rustication from the institution.

Even as she struggled for life in the ICU, her family revealed chilling details. Her father said the faculty member had threatened her with six years of academic backlog if she didn’t retract her complaint. She was reportedly warned of expulsion and branded a liar.

The incident has sparked outrage across Odisha. Protests erupted across Bhubaneswar, with student groups, women’s rights activists, and political parties demanding justice and accountability. The Higher Education Department has since suspended Principal Dillip Ghosh and arrested Sameer Sahoo. A three-member inquiry committee has been tasked with probing the incident, and the Odisha government has promised strict action once the report is submitted.

Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, who rushed back from Delhi to visit the girl in hospital on Sunday evening, said the government would leave no stone unturned to eradicate harassment from campuses. Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling and Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj also met her family.