The 22-year-old college student died of burn injuries at AIIMS on 15 July, plunging the Majhi government into a political storm. A student at Fakir Mohan Autonomous College in Balasore, she had repeatedly sought action against the head of the Bachelor of Education department, accusing him of sexual and mental harassment and demanding sexual favours. After the college’s internal complaints committee failed to act on her 1 July complaint, she went on to approach the principal, BJP MP Pratap Sarangi, MoS Suryabanshi Suraj, Balasore BJP MLA Manas Kumar Dutta, the CM’s office, and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan—but received no response. On 12 July, days after warning she would take extreme steps if denied justice, she set herself on fire outside the principal’s office.
Majhi has been facing most of the heat from the opposition parties, which have been demanding the resignation of the ministers whom the student had approached for help. Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) called a state-wide ‘bandh (strike)’ on 16 July, and the Congress, which has been looking to find its space in Odisha politics, chose 17 July for a strike on the same issue. Both BJD and Congress have been highlighting the Majhi government’s failure to save the student.
Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi spoke to the deceased student’s father and termed the incident as “a murder, not suicide”.
“The death of a daughter fighting for justice in Odisha is a direct murder committed by the BJP system. The brave student spoke out against sexual abuse, but instead of justice, she faced threats, harassment, and humiliation repeatedly. Those supposed to protect her were the ones who kept breaking her. As always, the BJP system protected the accused and forced an innocent daughter to set herself on fire,” Rahul said in a post on X. “This is not a suicide; it is a murder organised by the system. Modi ji, be it Odisha or Manipur, the daughters of the country are burning, breaking down, dying. And you? You are sitting silently. The country doesn’t want your silence; it wants answers. India’s daughters need security and justice.”
Also read: Balasore student who self-immolated wanted to be a teacher. In death, she taught how to stand up
Oppn vs ministers
BJD leader Naveen Patnaik, the most vocal critic of the Majhi government since he lost the state, has called the incident “a systematic failure” and demanded the resignation of all officials who let it happen.
On 15 July, the day the student died, Patnaik said to the media, “It is even more disturbing to think how a failed system can take someone’s life. The most painful part is that this was not an accident, but rather the result of a system that remained silent, instead of helping. Struggling for justice, the girl ultimately closed her eyes.”
BJP Balasore MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi, who has been facing heat since the incident, defended himself, saying the girl and her friend reached him on 2 July, and soon after, he contacted the principal, as well as the police superintendent, urging them to file an FIR.
“The SP said he asked the college to make a complaint, and the principal said he was internally dealing with the case, with a decision coming in a week. I asked the principal to send the HoD on leave, but unfortunately, the girl attempted suicide and died,” Sarangi elaborated.
However, Odisha Congress chief Bhakta Charan Das, speaking to ThePrint, mentioned, “The girl first approached the local police station on 30 June, asking the police to register an FIR, which they did not file. She again visited the police station, but nothing happened again. Then, she met the local BJP MLA, but he did not make the SP file an FIR.”
Bhakta Charan Das reiterated that “nobody saved her”.
“The PM talks about ‘beti bachao beti padhao‘, but when ‘beti’ was calling for them (BJP leaders), no one came to her rescue. What is more shameful for the BJP is that she was an ABVP member, and still, the leaders could not help one of their cadres. What help will they provide to others? We demand the suspension of the SP and the sacking of all ministers who did not help the girl with registering an FIR,” he said.
The BJP state leaders have countered him.
Odisha BJP Vice-President Nauri Nayak told ThePrint, “The incident is unfortunate. Today, those BJD student leaders and Congress leaders are on the roads protesting against this incident. When she was asking for help, they did not support her. Maybe, in frustration, she took to suicide, or they provoked her. It will be clear in the investigation.”
A series of crimes against women
This suicide case has rocked the state’s conscience, but it is not isolated.
Since June, the Majhi government has been riddled with several sexual assault and gang rape cases, and other crimes against women.
Building on the support of women voters, ex-CM Patnaik had stayed in power in Odisha for two decades.
A February sexual harassment case had left Odisha shaken, as well. It became a major embarrassment to the Majhi government, and eventually, required the intervention of the Ministry of External Affairs.
A Nepali student at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) died by suicide after she was allegedly sexually harassed and blackmailed. Soon after, Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli expressed concerns on social media. Though the KIIT administration did not take the case seriously at first, mounting international pressure forced the Majhi government to course correct, with the arrest of a male student.
A second Nepali student was found dead at KIIT within 2 months, further marring Odisha’s image as an international destination for education.
These incidents spell trouble for the BJP after its 2024 assembly win, which was heavily reliant on its gains in the Bhubaneswar constituency.
A 15 June gang-rape at Gopalpur Beach involved 10 men raping a girl after tying up her friend, a boy. After public outcry over the incident, the National Human Rights Commission issued notices to the state chief secretary and the director general of police. This happened ahead of the PM’s visit to Odisha last month.
A body surfaced in Keonjhar district 18 June. After the identification of the victim, her family alleged sexual assault.
On 25 June, reports emerged of a clinic owner in Ganjam raping a 17-year-old minor.
In the same district, another such incident took place 28 June, involving the rape of a Class 8 student by her distant relatives.
During PM Modi’s 20 June visit, Odisha Congress observed hunger strikes against the rising crimes against women.
BJD leader Pramila Mallik said to ThePrint, “The crimes against women have increased over the past year, but the state government stays busy, promoting false achievements. Where are the police? Why are such incidents happening every second of the day? The government should respond, but nobody helped the girl who died by suicide. It is a sad state of affairs.”
Puri stampede & officer’s mistreatment
When the Odisha government celebrated a year of its governance in June last week, actions of BJP leader Jagannath Pradhan, who had contested and won from the Central Bhubaneswar assembly, raised a political storm.
On 30 June, Jagannath Pradhan assaulted the commissioner of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, dragging him out of his office and beating him up. The videos of the incident immediately went viral.
In protest, officers and civil servants of the Odisha Administrative Service went on mass leave, with the administration nearly crumbling. They returned only after Pradhan’s arrest.
Initially, the BJP had considered silence, but when the officials refused to budge, its crisis management began. Pradhan received the summons to surrender. BJP leaders, such as Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi, individually condemned the assault.
In June, Puri’s Jagannath Rath Yatra—Odisha’s most significant cultural festival—led to a stampede, exacerbated by mismanagement and ineffective control. Three people died, and hundreds required hospital treatment.
It happened after officials created a VIP gate and closed the gates for ordinary citizens, allowing them only an exit. That, combined with a lack of traffic or crowd management plans, created chaos, which eventually led to the stampede. It again put the spotlight on the Majhi government’s poor planning and weak administrative control.
An Odisha BJP leader told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity, “One of the problems is that many state officers are still under BJD control. The BJD ruled for more than 20 years. It has cadres in every department, and officers who brief their leaders. For example, in the assault case, all the officers went on strike, but under the BJD’s rule, such a mass leave had never happened. Even after Pradhan’s arrest, the officers took time to budge.”
“It is a concern for the chief minister and the party: how to handle such officers who are working for the BJD, but the crimes against women are a serious issue. It can upset our women voters’ base. This issue defeated Akhilesh Yadav in UP and Lalu in Bihar.”
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also read: Officers’ strike averted in Odisha after Bhubaneswar civic body official attacked, BJP corporator held
