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Congress leader and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi on Tuesday held the BJP-led Odisha government responsible for the death of a college student in Balasore, who died after self-immolating on campus.
The student had reportedly faced prolonged sexual harassment by the Head of Department and alleged that her formal complaints were repeatedly ignored. In a strongly worded post on X, the Congress leader accused the ruling BJP of a recurring pattern across its governed states -- "standing with the accused, tormenting the victim, and obstructing justice." "In Odisha, another daughter lost her battle for justice. She raised her voice against the atrocities committed against her, but instead of justice, she faced humiliation and harassment. This double oppression forced her to take her own life. Is it the same pattern of the BJP, from Delhi to UP, from Manipur to Odisha - standing with the accused, tormenting the victim, and obstructing justice?" the Wayanad MP wrote. Taking a direct swipe at the Prime Minister, she questioned, "Should half of the country's population now abandon all hope for justice?" The 20-year-old student of Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College in Balasore reportedly set herself on fire on July 12 inside the campus after alleging continuous sexual harassment by the Head of the Education Department. Despite filing a formal complaint and approaching the college principal, her appeals went unheard. She was initially admitted to the Balasore district hospital before being shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Bhubaneswar, where she succumbed to her burn injuries on July 14, hospital authorities confirmed. Following the incident, the college's Education Head of Department, Samira Kumar Sahu, and Principal Dilip Ghose have been arrested. In response to the incident, the Congress party has called for a statewide "bandh" on July 17, demanding justice for the student. Odisha Congress President Bhakta Charan Das has called for the resignation of the state's Education Minister, as well as the local MLA and MP. "Our demand is that the Education Minister, the MLA, and the MP--all three--should resign, and their party should expel all three... On the 17th, we have called for an Odisha bandh, and we appeal to all sections to support it," Das told ANI. (ANI)
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