ROURKELA/BHUBANESWAR: The 17-year-old girl, who suffered serious burns after attempting self-immolation over alleged harassment, succumbed during treatment at Ispat General Hospital (IGH) here at around midnight on Sunday.
The death sparked protest with local BJD leaders demanding compensation and job assistance for the bereaved family on Monday. The protest was called off after the Sundargarh administration announced `4 lakh compensation to the victim’s family from the CM’s Relief Fund.
BJD president and Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik also slammed the state government for the college student’s death and demanded strong action against the culprits.
The former chief minister alleged that the inaction of the state government has come as a surprise as the victim’s family stated that they received death threats. “How many more innocent lives will the government allow to be lost in such a manner? The government’s indifference towards preventing such rising incidents in Odisha is emboldening the criminals,” the opposition leader added.
Describing the incident as heart-wrenching, Naveen conveyed deepest condolences to the bereaved family and demanded justice for the deceased girl.
IIC of Rajgangpur police station Bijay Das said the deceased’s body was sent for postmortem at around 3 pm. After autopsy, the girl’s family took her body to Lanjibernal in Rajgangpur for the last rites.
The minor had set herself on fire in her house at Lanjiberna in the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. One Nilesh Sahu (24), a bus helper, was arrested for allegedly harassing the girl which forced her to take the drastic step.