A Class XII commerce student of Pattamundai College in Kendrapra district of Odisha committed suicide on February 24 following alleged sexual harassment by a lecturer of the college. The incident came to light after the girl’s family lodged a police complaint on Saturday.

The girl’s mother alleged that her daughter was subjected to indecent behaviour by a teacher in her college on the day of the examination. “The teacher touched her inappropriately on the pretext of checking for any malpractice during the examination on February 19. He later called her to the staff room and sexually harassed her again,” said the mother.

The mother said when her daughter protested, he threatened to expel her and warned her against speaking to anyone about the incident. The girl returned to the examination hall but was unable to focus on the paper.

The mother said after she came to know about this, she reported it to the college authorities who assured her to address the issue after the examination was over. However, the girl committed suicide on February 24.

Pattamundai police said they are investigating the case. “We have collected the CCTV footage to ascertain the truth of the allegation. No one has been named in the FIR,” Pattamundai police told The Telegraph.