Odisha CID files charge sheet against principal, professor in student self-immolation case
A 504-page charge sheet, detailing the July 12 incident and the role of then professor of the education department Samir Kumar Sahoo and former principal Dilip Ghosh, was filed before the court
Bhubaneswar: The Odisha state criminal investigation department (CID) on Tuesday submitted a charge sheet against a college principal and the head of the education department for abetment of suicide, in connection with the self-immolation of a 20-year-old woman on a college campus in July.
A 504-page charge sheet, detailing the July 12 incident and the role of then professor of the education department Samir Kumar Sahoo and former principal Dilip Ghosh, was filed before the court of the sub-divisional judicial magistrate in Balasore, officials from the Crime Against Women (CAW) wing of the state CID said.
“We have enlisted 120 witnesses in the case and described the role of Sahoo and Ghosh that led to the suicide,” deputy superintendent of police of CAW Iman Kalyan Nayak, who is the investigating officer of the case, said.
Sahoo and Ghosh have been charged under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) section 108 (abetment of suicide), which carries imprisonment for 10 years and a fine, section 351(2) (criminal intimidation), and section 3(5) (common intention).
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The second-year Bachelor of Education (BEd) student set herself on fire inside Fakir Mohan Autonomous College premises on July 12, allegedly due to inaction on her sexual harassment complaint against her department head. She was taken to AIIMS Bhubaneswar with over 95% burns but died during treatment on July 14.
On July 1, the deceased student had registered a complaint with the college’s Internal Complaints Committee, accusing Sahoo of sexual harassment. Sahoo had debarred her and eight other students from appearing for the fourth semester internal examination on June 30, citing their low attendance.
The student met the college principal, Dilip Ghosh, and Sahoo on July 12 before pouring petrol on herself and self-immolating. She died two days later.
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Sahoo and Ghosh were arrested under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita’s Sections 108 (abetment to suicide), 75(1)(ii) (demanding sexual favours as a form of sexual harassment), 78 (stalking), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), and 3(5) (common intention).
The First Information Report (FIR) lodged in the case said Sahoo allegedly mentally tortured the 20-year-old for refusing sexual favours. It accused Ghosh of inaction and mental harassment, and of threatening her to accede — failing which he would rusticate her from the college and fail her in the exam.
A month ago, the CAW had arrested a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s student wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Jyotiprakash Biswal, and Subhra Sambit Nayak, an office-bearer and a third-year student of anthropology at the college, on charges of abetment to suicide and criminal conspiracy.
They reportedly filmed her suicide attempt and even aided the act.
Officials aware of the development said a supplementary charge sheet would soon be filed against both of them.
