Odisha Student Who Set Herself On Fire Over Inaction Against Harassment Dies After Battling 90% Burns

One Odisha student succumbed to death after setting herself on fire near principal office for inaction of compliant against sexual harrasement. Despite adequate resuscitation, AIIMS Bhubaneswar pronounced her dead.

In a tragic incident in Odisha, a 22-year-old college student who set herself on fire over non-intervention on a sexual harassment complaint against a professor succumbed to death after battling for life for three days.

“Despite adequate resuscitation and all possible supportive management, including renal replacement therapy at Burns ICU, she could not be revived and was declared clinically dead at 11:46 pm on 14/05/25,” the AIIMS Bhubaneswar said in a statement.

Inaction Against The Professor

The deceased, who was a B.Ed student at the Fakir Mohan Autonomous College in Balasore, accused her head of department, Professor Samir Kumar Sahu, of sexual harassment on July 1.

According to reports, in a letter to the college’s Internal Complaints Committee, the girl described months of abuse and threats by the professor, but sadly, there was no intervention against the professor, even after seven days as promised.

Deceased Set Herself On Fire Close To The Principal’s Office

Students, who were protesting along with the deceased on July 12, claim that the girl stood up and left amid a protest against sexual harassment by the professor.

After being discovered with over 90% burned injuries close to the area of the principal’s office, she was sent to AIIMS Bhubaneswar, where she was pronounced dead.

What Does 90% Burn Mean?

According to Damien Wilson Carter, MD, Tufts University School of Medicine, first-degree (superficial) burns and second-degree (partial-thickness) burns, which affect the outermost and second layer of skin, can simply take days to weeks to heal without scarring.

Third-degree (full-thickness) burns take weeks to heal and typically cause scarring because they affect the tissue, fat, muscles and bone of the burn area.

However, burns that involve more than 90% of the body surface, or more than 60% in an older adult, are often fatal.

Treatment Of Burns

For a minor burn, you can treat the wound by cooling it down in a room temperature or running cold water, followed by other wound care and dressing. But for a severe burn, hospitalization is required to receive care from specialists for burn victims.

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