BHUBANESWAR: Leader of the Opposition and BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Sunday urged Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati’s intervention to ensure justice for the 20-year-old girl student of FM College in Balasore who allegedly faced sexual harassment from a teacher who repeatedly demanded sexual favours.
In a post on X, the former chief minister said that the Governor serves as the chancellor of key government-run universities, including the FM College. “I urge the Governor to intervene and ensure that the student receives the justice she so desperately sought,” he added.
Expressing deep shock and distress over the young student resorting to self-immolation in one of Odisha’s premier educational institutions, Naveen prayed to Lord Jagannath for her swift recovery from the grievous burn injuries. He said the tragic incident has laid bare the stark reality of how she was denied justice, despite repeatedly voicing her grievances from the college principal to the Higher Education Minister, and right up to the Union Minister and the Chief Minister.
Naveen said in a letter to the principal that she had earlier attempted suicide but was saved. For months, she lived in fear and anguish, he said and added that on July 1, in a desperate plea for help, she posted her grievance on social media, tagging several top officials. “But with no action forthcoming, she tragically resorted to setting herself on fire, right outside the principal’s chamber, in a final attempt to end her suffering,” he added.
President of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee Bhakta Charan Das also came down heavily on the state government over the incident. Das asked why the repeated complaint by the student about the alleged sexual harassment by the teacher was ignored. Das said that Congress has already launched an agitation over the incident and this will be extended throughout the state.