Bhubaneswar: Shocking news from Odisha, where the suicide of a girl who had filed a complaint of sexual harassment in college has sparked a huge controversy, is that three men poured petrol on a 15-year-old girl and set her on fire in the middle of the road. The incident took place in Balanga in the Puri district. Eyewitnesses said that three men set the girl on fire in Byabar village while she was going to her friend's house, and they fled the scene.
The locals put out the fire and immediately rushed the severely burnt girl to AIIMS Bhubaneswar. The accused had escaped by the time the police reached the village and started the investigation.
Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida, who handles the Women and Child Development department, said that all arrangements are being made for the girl's treatment, and all the expenses will be borne by the government. Parida said that the police have been directed to arrest the culprits immediately and take strict action.
This is the latest in a series of shocking incidents from the state. The Congress and seven other opposition parties had observed a bandh across the state on Thursday over the death of a college student who committed suicide by setting herself on fire after being denied justice in a sexual harassment complaint.
Last month, a 20-year-old college student was gang-raped by 10 men on a beach in Odisha's Ganjam district. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had demanded that the Prime Minister break his silence, saying that the country's girls are being raped and that the central and state governments are standing by as spectators.