Balasore suicide horror: 71 classmates signed a letter defending accused professor, victim was vilified by BJD, Congress student wings before she immolated herself
The heartrending suicide of a 20-year-old B.Ed student from Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College, Balasore, is swiftly devolving into a grim indictment of institutional rot, political hypocrisy, and the cruelty of peer betrayal. What initially appeared to be a lone voice of protest against sexual harassment has now snowballed into a national scandal, one where justice was crushed under a coordinated campaign of vilification, aided and abetted by those who today shed crocodile tears, and which finally resulted in the death of the 20-year-old victim.
However, merely three days after her death, a shocking detail has emerged: 71 of her 100 classmates, including 41 women, signed a letter attacking her character and defending the very professor she had accused of sexually harassing her, a report published by the Hindustan Times said.
The letter, written in Odia and dated July 1, a day after her formal complaint openly demanded that the victim and her supporters be expelled unless they provided “video evidence” of the harassment suffered by her. The letter also accused the victim of weaponising a sexual harassment charge and targeting the professor after she was barred from writing an internal exam, allegedly due to low attendance.
The backlash, say her family and friends, was orchestrated with chilling precision. “It wasn’t just about disbelief — they ganged up against her,” her brother told reporters. “They assassinated her character both offline and online. She had no one left to turn to.”
Her roommate revealed that the night before she immolated herself, the victim was sleepless, distraught, and deeply shaken by the slander circulating on social media — much of it allegedly spread by student leaders affiliated with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Congress’s student wing, NSUI. “The same people who called her names online are now marching with placards demanding justice. What justice? You murdered her dignity first,” the roommate said bitterly.
The events of July 12, the day she set herself ablaze, are now under intense scrutiny. Her close friend recounted that she had gone for a quick lunch, only to return and find her engulfed in flames. The friend suspects that a confrontation with the college principal, Dilip Kumar Ghosh, might have pushed her over the edge. “She was already on the edge. Whatever he said in that final meeting must have broken her spirit completely,” she said.
According to the FIR lodged by the victim’s cousin, Ghosh forced her to withdraw her complaint and apologise to her alleged tormentor, Samir Sahoo, just minutes before the incident. Both Ghosh and Sahoo have been booked under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including abetment to suicide, sexual harassment, stalking, and criminal intimidation. Police sources suggest that even more stringent charges may be added following the investigation by the Crime Against Women (CAW) unit of the Odisha CID.
The CAW team is not only probing the professor’s history of misconduct, but also investigating how he managed to marshal 71 students to file a counter-allegation, a move that now appears to be an organised smear campaign. The team is also examining the role of the principal in suppressing the complaint and failing to report the matter to higher education authorities.
What makes this tragedy even more grotesque is the rank hypocrisy now on display by the same political outfits whose student bodies vilified her. Both the Congress and the BJD have issued statements demanding action and reforms, even as screenshots of vile social media posts and smear campaigns allegedly run by their own student leaders continue to surface.
On July 12, an FIR was lodged at Sahadevkhunta police station by the cousin of the deceased B.Ed student, painting a damning picture of abuse and institutional betrayal. According to the FIR, Samir Kumar Sahoo, the head of the department of teacher education at Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College, had repeatedly demanded sexual favours from the student. When she refused to comply, he allegedly began harassing her—failing her in exams, marking her absent unfairly, and subjecting her to mental torment. The FIR further accuses college principal Dilip Kumar Ghosh of coercing the victim into withdrawing her complaint against Sahoo. In a particularly chilling detail, the FIR alleges that just before the suicide attempt, the principal summoned her to his office, compelled her to apologise to Sahoo, and pressured her to drop the charges.
Following preliminary investigations, both Sahoo and Ghosh have been booked under multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita. These include Section 108 (abetment to suicide, punishable by up to 10 years in prison), Section 75(1)(ii) (sexual harassment involving a demand for sexual favours), Section 78 (stalking), Section 79 (eve-teasing), Section 351(2) (criminal intimidation), and Section 3(5) (common intention). Authorities have indicated that more serious charges could be added as the probe deepens.
In response to mounting national outrage, the Odisha government has swung into damage control, mandating awareness workshops on sexual harassment laws and ordering all universities and colleges to prominently display women’s helpline numbers. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has sent a four-member fact-finding team to the college, led by Professor Raj Kumar Mittal, to assess regulatory compliance and institutional failures. A parallel probe by the state’s Higher Education Department is also underway.
But for the victim and her grieving family, these actions come far too late. “This is not just suicide. This is a slow public execution carried out by an entire system,” said a friend who stood by her till the end.
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