New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: Hitting out at the BJP government in Odisha after a college student set herself on fire for alleged inaction over ‘sexual harassment’ by a teacher, Congress on Monday demanded Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s resignation and a judicial probe into the incident.
Addressing a press meet at AICC headquarters in New Delhi, Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba and Odisha MLA Sofia Firdous also urged President Droupadi Murmu to meet the victim, who is undergoing treatment at AIIMS Bhubaneswar after suffering 95 per vent burn, during her visit to Odisha and ensure justice.
Notably, the 20-year-old second-year Integrated B Ed student of Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College in Balasore allegedly set herself on fire on Saturday afternoon after being denied justice over a sexual harassment complaint lodged by her against her teacher. The student with severe burn injuries was first admitted at the Balasore District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) and then shifted to AIIMS Bhubaneswar for advanced treatment.
“This student is an office-bearer of ABVP, the student affiliate of the BJP-RSS. The Head of the Department (HOD), Sameer Kumar Sahu, was continuously pressuring this B.Ed. student for sexual favours. The HOD was threatening her that if she did not comply with his demands for sexual favours, she would face consequences,” Alka Lamba claimed.
“The student did not accept these threats and reported the entire matter to the school principal, Dilip Ghosh, on June 30. The committee formed to investigate the case questioned the student instead of the HoD for 10 days. Fed up with the mental harassment, the student went on a protest sit-in after 11 days, but when she felt that justice would not be served, she set herself on fire on the college campus,” she said.
All this is happening in Odisha under BJP’s ‘double engine government’, Lamba said.
Despite strict laws, crimes against women are increasing, she said, alleging that in Odisha, there is pressure from BJP-RSS and ABVP officials on the police and administration.
“The President of India, Droupadi Murmu ji, herself hails from Odisha. Today, she is attending an event at the same AIIMS Bhubaneswar where this female student is admitted in critical condition. We just want to say that President ji should meet this female student,” Lamba said and sought to know whether Droupadi Murmu will you meet that girl.
She alleged that Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Uttarakhand, and Rajasthan are witnessing a peak in crime and the BJP government there is completely shielding criminals.
“Our plea to the President ji is that you will spend hours at AIIMS today, so please do meet that girl, so that she can get justice,” she said.
President Murmu is on a two-day visit to Odisha from Monday during which she will attend the convocation ceremonies of AIIMS Bhubaneswar and Ravenshaw University in Cuttack.
Lamba pointed out that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had sent a delegation of MPs to meet the victim’s family.
“Our MPs have met the victim’s family and prepared a report, which will be released soon. We are making every effort to ensure that the victim gets justice, but when Congress workers went to meet the victim yesterday, the BJP government and ABVP did not allow us to meet her,” she said.
Congress MLA from Barabati-Cuttack Sofia Firdous said the party demands that Chief Minister Majhi should resign, taking responsibility for it.
“A judicial inquiry should be conducted in this matter so that the culprits are punished and PM (Narendra) Modi should break their silence and answer the people of Odisha,” she said.
A three-member committee set up by the Odisha government has already started its inquiry into the incident.
FM College Principal Ghose and HoD Sahu have been suspended. Sahu, the prime accused in the sexual harassment case, was also arrested on Saturday.