BHUBANESWAR: The Balanga incident took a startling twist on Saturday after the 15-year-old girl, who was alleged to have been set afire by unknown miscreants last month, succumbed at AIIMS-Delhi in the evening.
Soon after her death, the father of the victim came out with a video statement saying she had taken her own life due to mental stress and depression. “The state government provided us with all possible help and assistance. Today my daughter is not with us. She was under severe mental stress for which she took her life. I request the political parties to not politicise the issue and pray for my daughter’s departed soul,” he said.
The Odisha Police, which is investigating the case, also claimed that it found involvement of no other person in the incident. Initially, the incident was being probed as an attack by a group of unidentified youths. The girl’s mother too had lodged a complaint with police in this line.
“According to the investigation conducted so far, it is clear that no other person is involved. Therefore, we request everyone not to make any sensitive comments regarding this matter during this tragic moment,” Odisha Police said in its statement on X.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi expressed shock over the girl’s death. “I am deeply shocked by the death of the Balanga incident victim. Despite all efforts by the government and round-the-clock endeavours of the specialist medical team at AIIMS-Delhi, her life could not be saved,” he posted on his X handle.
The girl had sustained 75 per cent burns and was admitted to AIIMS-Bhubaneswar on July 19. She underwent surgery for management of deep burns on July 23. However, her condition remained critical.
Meanwhile, with investigators finding no clue of any foul play, police probed the case from suicide angle too. “The police have conducted the investigation with utmost sincerity. The investigation has reached its final stage,” read the police statement.
Puri police had recorded the victim’s statement at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar on July 19. The victim, a school dropout, claimed that she was on the way to give some books to her friend in the village when three bike-borne youths abducted her and used a chloroform-like substance to make her unconscious and then set her on fire.
She reportedly mentioned three different names of her friend, but no such girl by such names could be found in the village. Similar brands of matchbox and the two water bottles containing kerosene which were recovered from the spot were found in her house too. A bag of a garments shop located in Gop was found on the spot and the same shop’s bag was also found in her house, said sources.
Neither the CCTV cameras installed in the nearby areas recorded movement of any suspect nor any eyewitnesses noticed them before or after the crime, police sources said. Some villagers informed police that they had spotted the girl walking alone by concealing a bag under her stole, said sources.
After the incident, she was rescued by a local villager before being shifted to the community health centre at Pipili from where she was shifted to AIIMS-Bhubaneswar. As her condition deteriorated, the girl was airlifted to AIIMS-Delhi a day later.
Since the incident came close on the heels of the self-immolation by the student of Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College in Balasore over sexual harassment by a faculty member, it grabbed national headlines and led to huge political slugfest.