Odisha saw unprecedented political unrest on Tuesday after a 20-year-old girl student of Fakir Mohan Autonomous College in Balasore, who had accused a professor of sexual harassment and inaction from authorities, immolated herself last week.
The 11-year-old girl student, who suffered 95% burns, succumbed to her injuries late Monday night at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, where she was under treatment since Saturday, July 12. She was pronounced dead at 11:46 pm after she was maintained on mechanical ventilation and intensive resuscitation, as per a bulletin from the hospital.
The incident has sparked mass protests throughout Odisha. At least eight political parties, including Congress and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), have imposed an ‘Odisha Bandh’, raising allegations of a government cover-up and inability to provide justice to the student.
#WATCH | Odisha State Congress President Bhakta Charan Das calls for ‘Odisha Bandh’ on 17th July over the death of Balasore student who died by self-immolation
He says, “The student knocked on every door for justice, even got an FIR registered… but she did not get justice…… pic.twitter.com/K7XSSsafzn
— ANI (@ANI) July 15, 2025
Protests outside AIIMS and Demand for Minister’s Resignation
Demonstrators congregated outside AIIMS Bhubaneswar on Tuesday morning, seeking accountability and transparency in the probe. Congress and BJD leaders accused the state government of trying to cover up the incident by performing the student’s postmortem at 2 am.
“Why was the postmortem conducted at night? The body was brought in the night so that nobody would come to know,” explained BJD leader Sulata Deo, who further stated that a delegation of BJD leaders approached President Droupadi Murmu, appealing to her for intervention.
“It is shocking that atrocities are being committed against women and tribals in Odisha. If this is happening in the temples of education, then where would a woman go… When the President came to know about this incident, she expressed concern,” she said.
We are protesting as they are doing the post-mortem at 2 am. The government, along with the police, wants to take away the body following the postmortem,” Congress leader Yashir Nawaz informed.
“Now, the ‘beti bachao beti padhao’ slogan has become ‘beti padhao beti jalao’ in Odisha,” BJD leader Snehangini Chhuria said, critically attacking the state’s action on the matter.
Victim Had Reached Out to Authorities Before Death
The victim, a second-year B.Ed (Integrated) student, had immolated herself just days after the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) acquitted Samir Kumar Sahu, the head of the college’s department of education, whom she had accused of sexual overtures and academic intimidation.
She had reportedly written to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the National Commission for Women, and local police—but to no avail.
President and CM React
The President, Droupadi Murmu, visited the hospital hours before she died and promised the family assistance. Following her death, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi tweeted on X:
I pledge to the family that all the perpetrators will get the toughest punishment according to the law.”
As public outrage mounts and there are cross-party demands for justice, the episode is set to remain a hot-button issue in Odisha’s political and education debate over the next few weeks.
