Odisha: 13-year-old girl dies after allegedly setting herself on fire in Bargarh district

Bhubaneswar: A 13-year-old schoolgirl, who allegedly set herself on fire at a village in Odisha’s Bargarh district, succumbed to burn injuries at a hospital in Burla on Monday, police said.

This is the fourth such incident in the state in less than a month, and sparked outrage with Opposition parties rushing teams to the spot for fact-finding.

Bolangir SP Abilash G, who is in charge of Bargarh district, said, “The girl succumbed to burn injuries at Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR), Burla. We are investigating the reasons behind the girl taking the extreme step.”

The SP said police have registered an unnatural death (UD) case following complaints by her family members.

A three-member police team has been formed to probe the incident, he said, adding that police have recovered a video regarding the girl. Northern Range IGP Himanshu Lal, who is monitoring the investigation, said the police have been probing into the incident from different angles, like domestic quarrel, strained friendship or others. The girl was staying in a hostel and had come to her maternal uncle’s house, where she took this extreme step, Lal said.

Earlier in the day, the minor was rescued by villagers from a football ground at Phiringmal village within Gaisilat police station limits in Bargarh district in a half-burnt condition. She was rushed to Bargarh district headquarters hospital and later to VIMSAR, Burla.

The IGP said different teams have been formed and the investigation is being carried out.

The police have been interrogating several people, including a local shopkeeper who allegedly sells petrol in the village. The girl’s distant relatives are also being questioned, police said.

Meanwhile, separate delegations of opposition BJD and Congress reached the hospital and also at the village of the deceased girl’s maternal uncle.

The victim was a Class 8 student of an ashram school and had come to her maternal uncle’s house some days ago. She was keeping unwell for some time and was under treatment at Padampur hospital, a police officer said, adding that her father stays in Tamil Nadu as a migrant labourer. However, the exact cause of the girl’s death is yet to be ascertained. “The investigation is going on, post-mortem report, scientific team reports are awaited before reaching a conclusion on the cause of her death,” the IGP said.

The BJD in a statement expressed concern over a series of women burning incidents at Balasore, Balanga (Puri), Kendrapara and now in Bargarh districts. The party blamed the police administration for the repeat of incidents. “The IIC and the SP of Balasore district are still in charge, though the FIR was not registered, and they did nothing when the FM College student lodged a complaint,” the BJD said. Similarly, in the Balanga incident, the police have not arrested the accused mentioned by the family initially. “But minutes after the death of the minor girl, the Police issued a gag order. Every day, such instances are coming out because of institutional silence,” the BJD alleged. agencies

“The chief minister should understand that law and order has collapsed under him. As he is not capable of handling the Home department, he should assign it to somebody else,” the BJD said, adding that suicide is certainly not a solution, but to stop that, the system has to respond, which is not happening in Odisha at the moment.

The BJD also came down heavily on Law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan for blaming opposition parties for raising the issue. “The Law minister should realise that tall talk does not facilitate good governance. When governance takes a back seat, people become helpless. That seems to be the greatest gift of double-engine government in Odisha,” the BJD said.

OPCC president Bhakta Charan Das strongly condemned the state government for “lack of sensitivity”, for which young women are dying by self-immolation.

The Bargarh school girl’s death is the latest incident, and it follows the deaths of three other women by burning since July 12.

On July 12 a 20-year-old woman student in Balasore set herself ablaze on her college campus and died at AIIMS Bhubaneswar on July 14.