Rahul Gandhi and Congress jump in to cash on the political outrage over Odisha college student’s death, while NSUI has been mocking and maligning her
In Odisha, a massive political storm has erupted after a 20-year-old student named Soumyashri died in Balasore after attempting self-immolation over alleged inaction against sexual harassment by a professor at the Fakir Mohan Autonomous College. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) called for ‘Balasore Bandh’ over the incident and is staging a street protest in Balasore.
The 20-year-old girl set herself on fire after allegedly facing prolonged sexual harassment by her college’s Head of Department. Despite lodging a formal complaint and seeking help from the principal, her pleas were ignored, leading to the tragic incident. The accused professor, Samir Kumar Sahu, has been arrested by the police.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has a track record of jumping in quickly to gain political mileage whenever any disturbing incident or tragedy unfolds in BJP-ruled states and slips into hibernation when a similar incident takes place in Congress-ruled states. This incident is also no exception, as the Congress MP has blamed the ‘BJP ecosystem’ for the young student’s death. In an X post published on 15th July 2025, Gandhi claimed that the BJP is shielding the accused.
“The death of a daughter fighting for justice in Odisha is nothing less than a murder by the BJP’s system. That brave student raised her voice against sexual harassment – but instead of delivering justice, she was threatened, tormented, and repeatedly humiliated. Those who were supposed to protect her kept breaking her. As always, the BJP’s system continued to shield the accused – and forced an innocent daughter to set herself on fire. This is not suicide; it is an organized murder by the system. Modi ji, whether in Odisha or Manipur – the daughters of the nation are burning, breaking, and dying. And you? You remain silent. The country doesn’t need your silence; it needs answers. India’s daughters need safety and justice,” Gandhi posted.
On Wednesday (16th July), Rahul Gandhi said that he spoke to the victim’s father and expressed solidarity with him.
“Spoke with the father of the brave daughter who lost her life in the fight for justice in Balasore, Odisha. In his voice, I felt his daughter’s pain, dreams, and struggle. Assured him that the Congress Party and I stand with them at every step. What happened is not only inhuman and shameful, but a wound to the entire society. We will ensure in every way that the victim’s family receives full justice,” Gandhi posted.
While the Congress leader is positioning himself and the Congress party as messiahs of the oppressed, people belonging to Congress’s student wing, NSUI, have been mocking the deceased victim. The social media posts by NSUI workers and self-declared Rahul Gandhi fans show that they mocked the victim due to her association with the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), saying that she made fake allegations of sexual harassment due to attendance shortage.
BJP accuses NSUI worker and Rahul Gandhi fan of harassing and pushing the student to commit suicide
Taking to X, BJP spokesperson Sanju Verma shared pictures of Sourav Behera, an NSUI worker and Rahul Gandhi fan, calling him an accused in the 20-year-old girl’s self-immolation. Verma suggested that the deceased victim was associated with the BJP’s student wing ABVP and claimed that the victim was being harassed by Behera.
“This is Sourav Behera of NSUI Sourav is an acolyte of Rahul Gandhi &like most Congressis, he is violently intolerant He is one of the key accused in tragic self-immolation case of student (ABVP) at FM College in Odisha He harassed victim, in collusion with HoD& Principal..Shame,” Verma posted.
The BJP leader shared another picture of Behera at an Odisha Congress event and alleged that Sourav Behera harassed and pushed the victim to commit suicide simply because she was affiliated with the ABVP.
“NSUI workers at Balasore in Odisha. Here you can see Sourav Behera, the accused, who pushed a 19 year old youngster into setting herself on fire simply because the victim was affiliated to ABVP, while the accused is from NSUI/Congress Has Rahul Gandhi condemned this Behera yet? No,” Verma said.
In a Facebook post, Sourav Behera wrote a sarcastic post mocking the victim, saying that the complaint of harassment is baseless and due to attendance shortage. “We won’t do classes, we will get into politics. If notice of Attendance Shortage is received, then you will drop to any level and bring allegations of harassing teachers and shine your politics. This is the work of the student union, which gives the slogan of knowledge, character, unity.”
Balasore student’s sexual harassment complaint, varsity’s inaction and the endless questions of the victim’s father
Notably, the student who committed self-immolation was studying in the second year of B.Ed in Fakir Mohan College in Balasore, Odisha. She had alleged that the Head of Department (HOD) was trying to sexually harass her. The student had also complained about this matter to the college principal. When no action was taken, the student committed self-immolation in the college itself on Saturday. She was 95 per cent burnt and was admitted to AIIMS in Bhubaneswar, where she succumbed to her injuries.
Meanwhile, the deceased victim’s father has alleged a conspiracy, saying that everyone pushed his daughter to end her life. He said that the accused professor, Samir Kumar Sah,u had two to four complaints against him. The victim’s father added that college authorities have asked him to wait for the internal committee report.
Calling his daughter’s death a “murder”, the victim’s father said, “Everyone together forced my daughter to die. Isn’t that murder? I believe it was a conspiracy because she used to raise her voice in college, and they didn’t like it.”
“Something must have happened inside…What happened inside? Why was she called in alone? Why wasn’t I or my son called?… I request the government to acknowledge that my daughter didn’t die, she was killed, and everyone should be charged with murder,” the victim’s father said, and further questioned why the girl tried to kill herself right after she came out of the Principal’s room.
The victim’s father has demanded the harshest punishment for those who abetted his daughter to end her life.
Reports say that the girl had complained to the internal complaints committee that Professor Samir Kumar Sahu had been seeking “favours” from her and threatening to ruin her academic prospects if she didn’t comply. No stern action was taken despite the committee’s assurance that action would be taken within seven days. Additionally, she had complained to the local police.
The higher education administration also suspended Dilip Ghosh, the college principal, for his inaction in the case after she attempted self-immolation. Principal Ghosh had said that the internal committee did not find any proof of sexual exploitation.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of Odisha, Mohan Charan Majhi, has announced an ex gratia of Rs 20 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to the victim’s family. The CM expressed grief over the incident and said, “I have personally instructed the officials concerned on this. The government stands firmly with the family.”
The Chief Minister has also been holding a series of meetings and has taken note of the action taken by the police so far, including professor Samir Kumar Sahu’s arrest.
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