TV
The father of the girl student, who attempted self-immolation in front of Fakir Mohan Autonomous College in Balasore on Saturday, has made serious allegations against the college administration and a senior faculty member.
In his address, he claimed that his daughter was mentally tortured, threatened with expulsion, and wrongfully blamed for filing a harassment complaint.
Shockingly, he also alleged that the accused HOD of Education, Sameer Kumar Sahoo, had threatened his daughter with six years of backlog if she did not take back her allegations against him.
Victim’s Family Alleges Institutional Pressure and Threats
According to the father, the student was repeatedly harassed and coerced by college authorities to withdraw her complaint against Sameer Kumar Sahoo. She was allegedly told that if she did not retract the complaint, she would be expelled from the college.
The father further revealed that her daughter was called into the principal’s chamber and told she was at fault, adding immense psychological pressure in the days leading up to the incident.
“The principal called her and warned that all the evidence was pointing against her, and she should immediately take back her complaint,” said the victim’s father.
“Sameer formed a group of students and attempted to frame my daughter and put pressure on her. He threatened her with academic repercussions. She could not bear this pressure,” he said in an interaction with the press.
The father’s statements corroborate with what classmates of the victim had alleged yesterday, which stated that after the student filed her complaint, the accused faculty member reportedly submitted a counter-allegation against her.
Meanwhile, the student remains in critical condition at AIIMS Bhubaneswar with over 90 percent burn injuries, while the Odisha government has launched a high-level probe into the incident.
Her father, however, has said that he has not yet seen his daughter after the incident and is unsure whether she would survive.
Government Inquiry and Disciplinary Measures Underway
Following widespread outrage, the Odisha government has taken swift action. Sameer Kumar Sahoo has been arrested, and FM College Principal Dillip Ghosh was suspended.
The Higher Education Department has constituted a three-member inquiry Committee to investigate the case.
