A minor girl allegedly died by self-immolation in Odisha’s Bargarh district on Monday.
Police have detained two persons in connection with the incident, the fourth case of a girl either committing self-immolation or being set ablaze in the last month.
Sources said the 13-year-old girl from Firingimal village under the jurisdiction of Gaislet police station in Bargarh doused herself with inflammable substance in a football field and set herself on fire. She was rescued by the villagers in a half-burnt condition and rushed to Veer Surendra Sai Medical College and Hospital, in Burla.
Local residents said the girl, whose father is employed as a labourer in Tamil Nadu, was studying in a residential school. She had come to her maternal uncle’s house where her mother used to live with her brother. “She seems to have taken the extreme step after being hurt by unkind comments of her friends,” said a local resident requesting anonymity. She succumbed to her injuries at the VSS Medical College and Hospital.
Inspector-general of police, Himanshu Lal told The Telegraph: “It is an unnatural death, a case of self-immolation. A case has been registered in this connection. She was not looking well when she came home from school. She was supposed to go back to school shortly. However, this unfortunate incident occurred. The father of the girl, a labourer, currently stays in Tamil Nadu.”
On being asked about a video that had gone viral in which someone poured kerosene on her, the inspector said: “No one poured any inflammable substance on her. There could be many reasons including family issues, health and financial issues that would fall under the ambit of investigation. Until the investigation is over, we should not rush to any conclusion.”
The police recovered a plastic bottle, a matchbox box and some other articles from the site of the incident. They have been sent to the forensic team for examination.
The Opposition BJD has accused the government of trying to suppress facts about the girl’s demise. The party made the allegations after a delegation led by local BJD MLA Barsha Singh Bariha was not allowed to meet the family members of the victim. “The police are trying to suppress something. If it is a case of suicide, why did they not allow us to meet family members of the victim?
Women are not safe in Odisha,” said local Padampur BJD MLA Barsha.
Earlier on July 12, a second-year BEd student of Fakir Mohan (autonomous) College in Balasore had set herself ablaze after her complaint of sexual harassment against a teacher was not addressed. She succumbed to her injuries two days later. On July 19, a 16-year-old girl was set on fire by three people near Balanga in Puri. She died on August 2 while undergoing treatment at AIIMS, New Delhi. Another minor girl from Kendrapara district immolated herself on August 6, alleging blackmail by her boyfriend.