In a tragic incident, a female student on Saturday allegedly set herself on fire in the college campus in Balasore district of Odisha after lodging a sexual harassment complaint against a teacher, reported news agency PTI.
The incident took place in the afternoon after the woman met the principal of Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College, Balasore, Dilip Ghosh. She had earlier lodged a sexual harassment complaint against a teacher, who is also the head of the department and demanded action against him.
In the incident, another male student also sustained burnt injuries while trying to save her.
According to the police, both the students were rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital in Balasore. Later, the woman was referred to AIIMS Bhubaneswar for advanced treatment.
Protest against the accused teacher
The woman was a second-year student of the Integrated B.Ed programme in the college. She had also staged a protest in the college campus for one week demanding action against the accused teacher, said the police.
After the incident, Principal Dilip Ghosh said: “The student had come to me and wanted action against the teacher. I counselled her as she looked tense. She had lodged a complaint on June 30 and an internal complaint committee (ICC) inquiry was going on.”
Meanwhile, the police have detained the accused teacher at Sahadevkhunta Police Station in Balasore.
According to her friends, the woman student was under severe mental stress for the past several days over the alleged harassment by the head of the department.
Her agony was compounded as neither the college authority nor the police took any action against the accused teacher, they said.
The tragic incident has sparked tension in the college campus.
Further investigation into the matter is underway.
Meanwhile, Balasore MLA Manas Dutta visited the hospital and said: “The health condition of the woman student is critical. Our first priority is to save her life.”