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Rashmita Panigrahi
Rashmita had never thought that she will land in a hospital bed battling for life. Never had she thought that she would have to fight for her life for so many days. What Rashmita dreamt of was to appear for the UPSC examination after completing her BSc and become an IAS officer.
Rashmita Panigrahi saw her dream shattering into pieces after she was admitted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack with more than 60 percent burn injuries on October 28, 2022. Hailing from Gunupur in Rayagada, she is a victim of alleged dowry torture. As per the allegations of her family, Rashmita’s in-laws tried to kill her by pouring kerosene and setting her on fire.
However, with extreme pain and a very long treatment which forced her to be bedridden for months, she continued reading and preparing for the UPSC.
In fact, despite not being able to write herself, she appeared for the UPSC preliminary examination held in May this year, though unsuccessfully. Though she failed to qualify for the prelims by just a few marks, it did not bog her down.
“I could not prepare as much as I wanted after my marriage and being on hospital bed did not help either. So I could not qualify the prelims this year. But I will definitely qualify next year,” said Rashmita from the hospital.
Post Graduate in Chemistry and OTET qualifier, she continues her preparations on the hospital bed and hopes to write the UPSC exams next year with her own hands.
This is an extraordinary show of resilience. To keep the hope alive and fight back even after sustaining more than 60 percent burns to her body is just amazing. I really wish she qualifies for the civil services exam in the next attempt,” said Dr Vibhuti Nayak, HOD of the Plastic Surgery Department, SCB Medical.
A victim of 'dowry torture' herself, Rashmita aims to eradicate this medieval tradition after becoming an IAS officer.
“My in-laws demand money from my parents regularly, which I did not like. And their hate turned to anger after I gave birth to a girl child. Nobody should lose hope in any kind of situation,” she advises others.