Woman student dies at hospital, Patnaik demands strict action against culprits

Bhubaneswar, Dec 8 (PTI) A woman student of Odisha's Sudergarh district, who suffered 90 per cent burn injuries after she set herself on fire, died while undergoing treatment at Ispat General Hospital (IGH) Rourkela, police said on Monday.

The undergraduate woman student was allegedly blackmailed by a 25-year-old man following which she allegedly set herself on fire at their home in Rajgangpur police station area on Friday night and was admitted to the IGH Rourkela.

Odisha's Health and Family Welfare minister Mukesh Mahaling had visited IGH on Sunday and directed the hospital authorities to airlift her to AIIMS Bhubanewas for better treatment. However, the victim succumbed to the burn injuries on Sunday night, the hospital authorities said.

This was the fifth such incident in Odisha in a span of six months when women died due to self-immolation in Balasore, Balanga in Puri district, Kendrapara, Bargarh and now Rajgangpur, official sources said.

Meanwhile, BJD president Naveen Patnaik expressed deep concern over the death of the woman student.

"The tragic incident of a college student losing her life in a fire in Rajgangpur Lanjiberna is heart-wrenching. In this sorrowful time, I convey my deepest condolences to the bereaved family and pray for the eternal peace of the departed soul," Patnaik said in a post on X.

Patnaik noted that even after the family members stated that they had received prior threats of being killed, the government's inaction astonishes everyone.

"How many more innocent lives will the government allow to be lost in such a manner? The government's indifference towards preventing such rising incidents in Odisha is emboldening the criminals," Patnaik, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Odisha Assembly, said.

Stating that people of Odisha are feeling unsafe, Patnaik alleged that the criminals are roaming freely and for whose security is the government providing? "The government must take strict measures to establish law and order in the state. Let people get justice, and immediate firm action be taken against the criminals," Patnaik said. PTI AAM AAM RG