NEW DELHI: The body of the college student who set herself ablaze following alleged sexual harassment by a professor reached her village in Odisha's Balasore district on Tuesday.
The student's body was cremated in the presence of her family and other villagers.
Thousands of people thronged the crematorium ground to attend her cremation. Balasore MP Pratap Sarangi, district officials and others walked to the crematorium ground from the house of the student.
The 20-year-old second-year B. Ed student of Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College, Balasore had accused the Head of Education Department, Samira Kumar Sahu of sexually harassing her.
She set herself on fire on Saturday on the college campus over alleged inaction against the professor and suffered 95 per cent burns.
The woman was first admitted to the Balasore district hospital and then shifted to AIIMS Bhubaneswar for advanced treatment.
The student's death has sparked off a major political uproar with opposition BJD and Congress calling it an "institutional betrayal."
Even as chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi has announced strong action against the culprits and a compensation of Rs 20 lakh for the family of the deceased, Congress has given Odisha bandh call on July 17 protesting the failure of the justice redressal system in the state.
State Congress president Bhakta Charan Das said the bandh is being supported by eight parties, including the Left.
He claimed the incident, which happened at the Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College in Balasore, showed that the state government has failed to protect women.
"She brought petrol, and everyone watched silently. No one acted," he said, attacking the ruling BJP.
Meanwhile, following the death of the student, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged it was nothing less than an "organised murder by the system".
Gandhi alleged that those who were supposed to protect her kept "breaking her".
"The death of a daughter fighting for justice in Odisha is nothing less than a murder by the BJP's system. That brave student raised her voice against sexual harassment - but instead of delivering justice, she was threatened, tormented, and repeatedly humiliated," he alleged in a post on X.
"Those who were supposed to protect her kept breaking her. As always, the BJP's system continued to shield the accused and forced an innocent daughter to set herself on fire," he alleged.
Gandhi claimed the girl's death was not suicide, it was an organised murder by the system.
"Modi ji, whether in Odisha or Manipur - the daughters of the nation are burning, breaking, and dying. And you? You remain silent," he said.
"The country doesn't need your silence; it needs answers. India's daughters need safety and justice," he added.
Hitting out at the state government over the death of the girl student, leader of the Opposition and BJD president Naveen Patnaik described it as a nothing less than institutional betrayal and a planned injustice.
Expressing deep sorrow over the death of the girl student, Naveen said on X, it is deeply disturbing to think how a failed system can take someone’s life.
“The most painful part is that this was not an accident, but rather the result of a system that remained silent instead of helping,” he added.
Stating that the girl died struggling for justice, the BJD president said that with great courage she had written to the college principal, informing about the sexual harassment she had faced.
Even after being ignored by the college authorities, she did not give up and had reached out to the higher education minister, the chief minister’s office and even a union minister, he said and added that she had met the Balasore MP to share her plight.
Naveen said if even one person had taken responsibility and intervened personally, perhaps the girl’s life could have been saved.
“She did not lose her life solely due to physical trauma but also because of the negligence of the state government, which left her alone in her struggle,” he added.
The former chief minister urged the Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati to ensure that action should not only be taken against the college authorities but also all those who failed to take any action despite the victim’s desperate pleas, are held accountable.
However, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan strongly reacted to Gandhi’s statement saying that it is very unfortunate that he has started doing politics over the issue.
Stating that welfare of women comes first on the priority list of the BJP government of the Centre, Pradhan said that Gandhi should express regret over the statement.