A minor tribal girl who allegedly set herself on fire last week over sexual harassment died while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Odisha’s Rourkela.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Saturday and left the victim with 90 percent burns and multiple organ failure, doctors said. A 24-year-old man, who had allegedly been harassing her for months, has been arrested.
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“The police are probing all possible angles. A forensic team has already visited the site,” Sundargarh SP Amritpal Kaur told The Indian Express. Police claim the victim’s family had never approached them earlier about the alleged harassment.
According to the family, the accused had threatened to set the victim on fire.
The victim is survived by her mother and two siblings.
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“She was a bright student and was concerned about her two siblings,” the victim’s uncle, who lodged the police complaint, told The Indian Express.
The state government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh for the victim’s family.
The incident has become a political flashpoint in Odisha, with the Opposition trying to corner the government over rising crimes against women.
Calling the incident “heart-wrenching”, Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Naveen Patnaik said on X: “Even after the family members stated that they had received prior threats of being killed, the government’s inaction is astonishing to everyone. How many more innocent lives will the government allow to be lost in such a manner?”
He went on to say: “The government’s indifference towards preventing such rising incidents in Odisha is emboldening the criminals”.
The past year has seen at least two such incidents of harassment trigger public outrage. A college student set herself on fire in July in Balasore, accusing her professor of sexual harassment. The incident led to statewide outrage and the arrest of two people, including the professor.
In August, another college student from Kendrapara died after setting herself ablaze after accusing her boyfriend of blackmailing her.
Vaghani added that the bridge has been shut down till December 25 because it has been found to be “risky”. 
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