Balasore: Sahadevkhunta police here on Monday arrested FM (Autonomous) College principal Dilip Ghosh, who was earlier suspended in connection with the self-immolation bid by an undergraduate girl student on the campus.
The arrest followed an outrage over the incident and allegations of harassment by family members of 20-year-old Soumyashree Bisi, who is currently battling for her life with over 90% burns at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar.
Ghosh is believed to have shielded HoD Sameer Ranjan Sahu, who was earlier arrested on allegations of sexual harassment. Police are yet to specify the charges against the principal.
The second-year Integrated BEd student set herself on fire on Saturday afternoon after her complaint of sexual harassment against Sahu, who heads the Bachelor of Education Department, went unaddressed. She was upset over inaction by the college authorities despite filing a formal complaint with internal complaints committee (ICC), which reportedly found no concrete evidence to support her allegations against the HoD, who she claimed had threatened to sabotage her academic record if she did not comply with his demand for favours.
Soumyashree lodged the complaint against the assistant professor on June 30 and met Ghosh again on the fateful day, alleging inaction and injustice by the college authorities.
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Her father, Balaram Bisi, claimed that Soumyashree was asked to withdraw her complaint and was threatened with rustication by the principal. “I had initially decided to withdraw her from the college but the principal deceived us with sweet talks and assured me that he would take care of my daughter. She took the extreme step after stepping out of his office. His complicity in the incident cannot be ignored,” he added.
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After returning from Delhi, Chief Minister Mohan Majhi had ordered a thorough probe and announced stringent departmental action to ensure such incidents are not repeated.
On Sunday, a three-member team formed by the Higher Education Department visited the college to investigate the harassment allegations. During the inquiry, which last for over four hours, Ghosh, presiding officer of the ICC Jayshree Mishra, assistant professors Mausumi Das Pattanayak and Minati Sethi, senior assistant Pravat Kumar Maharana, lab assistant and store keeper Bandita Parida, president of Balasore Nari Sangha Gopamudra Mohapatra, and student members Rojarani Mohanty, Ananya Mishra and Chandrakanta Das were questioned.
