BHUBANESWAR: Soumyashree’s father Balaram Bisi on Sunday made startling revelations about authorities pressurising her to withdraw her complaint with the internal complaints committee (ICC) of the college.
“My daughter’s friends informed me that a few minutes before she immolated herself, the principal asked her to meet him. He told her that the ICC had found all evidence against her and asked her to withdraw the complaint, else, she would be rusticated from the college,” an inconsolable Balaram Bisi told mediapersons at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar here.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Balaram, who works as held clerk at Remuna Women’s College in the district, said his daughter was being harassed by Samira Kumar Sahoo for the last six months over her attendance which he claimed was low.
“She approached Sahoo for improving her attendance which he agreed to do but for a favour. When my daughter asked him what favour he was referring to, he told her that she was old enough to understand,” Balaram told this paper.
When she refused to entertain his demand, what followed was harassment on a daily basis. “Sahoo humiliated my daughter in class every day even if she was late by two minutes and made her stand outside the class. She told us that he had deliberately failed her in internal exams and she had filled up form to appear for the back paper exam on Wednesday last. But that was not all. Boys, her seniors mostly, would pass lewd comments at her on the campus at the behest of Sahoo. They taunted her for doing ‘netagiri’ in college. She had shared all of this with her English department HoD, some other faculty members and the ICC but no one took the allegations seriously,” he alleged.
Balaram’s allegations were corroborated by sub-collector Madhusmita Samantray and Balasore SP Raj Prasad who conducted a preliminary inquiry after the incident.
On June 30, Sahoo allegedly stopped her from appearing for an internal examination on the pretext of low attendance. Following this, Soumyashree along with her brother and some ABVP members filed a complaint against him with the principal. To prevent law and order situation, police asked the principal to forward the complaint to ICC. Balaram further informed that he along with his daughter were called twice by the ICC for questioning but on both the occasions, the committee’s student members were absent. “Besides, she also told me that some of the ICC members were close to Sahoo,” he said.