abvp-member-among-two-held-in-balasore-self-immolation-case

Odisha Police's Crime Branch (CB) arrested two students on charges of abetment of suicide in the case of death of a Balasore college student, who self-immolated herself after her complaints of sexual harassment by a professor were allegedly ignored by authorities. The arrested students, Subhra Sambit Nayak and Jyotiprakash Biswal, were brought before a court and sent to judicial custody for 14 days. Nayak is a state office-bearer of the ABVP. Biswal had suffered injuries while trying to save the student who had self-immolated herself.

 

"We have strong evidence that these two students provoked the victim to go the extreme end. The probe is on and we are seeking more scientific evidence in the course of the investigation," averred a top Crime Branch official.

 

On July 12, the 20-year-old ABVP member and student immolated herself on the college campus as her allegations of being sexually harassed by a professor were allegedly not attended to. Two days later, she died of burn injuries.

 

Later, assistant professor Samir Kumar Sahu and college principal Dillip Kumar Ghose were arrested by the police in relation to the case and are in judicial custody.

 

Also read: Odisha girl's death: No foul play, say police amid allegations

 

As the incident set the country agog with anger, the investigation was transferred to the Crime Against Women and Children Wing of the Crime Branch on July 16 to make the investigation broader in scope. The agency investigated if there was anyone who "instigated" her to immolate herself after she had left the principal's office that day, who provided her with the petrol and other items, and if she was bullied on social media.

 

More than 50 individuals, such as students, the friends of the victims, members of an internal committee, and others, were grilled in the investigation. "We are still considering different possibilities," a government official claimed.

 

Even the BJP government in Odisha came under criticism from various sides for the incident, as the Opposition Biju Janata Dal and Congress called for a state-wide bandh against the government's alleged inability to provide security for women in the state.