A 50-year-old woman allegedly attempted self-immolation outside Lok Seva Bhavan, the Odisha secretariat, on Friday but was stopped in time by security personnel.
Security officials stationed at Gate No. 1 grew suspicious of the woman’s movements as she approached the entrance. She suddenly took out a bottle of petrol and a matchbox from her bag, poured petrol on herself and was about to set herself ablaze when security staff intervened and snatched away the matchbox.
During questioning, the woman alleged that she had been mentally harassed and wrongfully detained by Banpur police in Khurda district without any valid reason.
Sources said the woman, a schoolteacher, had earlier been arrested in 2022 for allegedly keeping a minor girl at her house. She was booked on charges of harassing the minor, which she denied. She was later suspended.
After being acquitted by a court, she was reinstated in service.
“The Banpur police have put me under mental trauma. Frustrated, I decided to end my life,” she said.
Police have launched an investigation to verify her allegations. “The law will take its own course. If any official is found guilty of harassing the woman, action will be taken,”a senior officer said.