The father of the 20-year-old college student who had tried self-immolation after she reportedly failed to get justice in a case of sexual harassment on Sunday alleged that his daughter was forced by college authorities to drop her complaint.
Blaming Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College principal Dillip Ghose, the father reported to the media in Bhubaneswar, "My daughter's friends informed me that she immolated herself within minutes of meeting the principal. She had gone to his room to learn the findings of the Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) investigating her complaint of sexual harassment. The principal informed my daughter that the ICC found no substance to her charge of sexual harassment against Samira Kumar Sahu, the head of education department," the father alleged, accusing the news could have aggravated her mental agony to take the extreme step.
Principal Ghose had explained that the victim had gone to his room and he had guided her. The victim had also informed him that the college administration could have acted against her for making false allegations against a teacher, the father claimed.
The victim's father also claimed that Sahu had threatened to tamper with her academic records if she did not oblige his request for "favours".
Also read: Odisha student self‑immolates after teacher seeks sexual favours
"When she filed a complaint to the ICC against him, he gathered some students and began alleging that everything she complained about was false. She was under heavy mental tension. The principal also failed to offer any solace to my daughter," he further stated.
The father of the victim further alleged that he had also met the principal after his daughter filed a complaint against the teacher.
"The principal had assured me not to worry and he will settle whatever is there," said he, trying to figure out how a principal would not be able to prevent a 20-year-old woman from trying to commit suicide.
The woman had filed the complaint against the teacher on June 30 and went on protest on the college campus on July 2. Her brother informed that she had also put up a post on X, requesting justice and tagging the chief minister, higher education minister, local MP, MLA, and other authorities.
Meanwhile, Ghose, suspended on Saturday by the Higher Education department stated, "I feel threatened to my life and have asked for protection from Balasore district administration." Fakir Mohan University Vice-Chancellor Prof Santosh Tripathy stated the incident might have been averted if the college administration acted quickly on the victim's allegations.
"I know the principal is a good man, but he could have acted the very first day and put an end to the problem. The woman waited for about 11 days and then tried to commit suicide by self-immolation," the VC informed the media.
The father of the girl dismissed any implication that his daughter was emotionally unstable.
"She was a master trainer in self-defence for girls. She wrote beautiful poems and won the Best Actress award in college in 2024," he said, his voice breaking.
"I don’t even know if I’ll be able to take my daughter back home," he said.
Meanwhile, the higher education department's three-member committee headed by Kali Prasanna Mohapatra questioned Principal Ghose and ICC members in connection with the matter.
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