Miscreants set 15-year-old girl on fire in Odisha, victim’s condition critical

A 15-year-old girl was set on fire by three unidentified men in Odisha’s Puri district on Saturday. She was returning home from a friend's house when the incident took place.

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The girl is undergoing treatment at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar and she is in a critical condition. AIIMS Bhubaneswar executive director Asutosh Biswas said, "The health condition of the girl is critical and needs to remain under observation for 48 hours. The next 72 hours are critical."

Replying a question, Biwas said the victim has suffered second- and third-degree burns. "Only 20-25 per cent of her body has been spared from burns. Despite the severity of the injuries, the victim is conscious and able to speak," he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida, who is in-charge of the Women and Child Development Department, said the government would bear the expenses of the girl’s treatment and that the police have been asked to arrest the culprits as soon as possible.

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said the state government was considering airlifting the 15-year-old girl to AIIMS Delhi for advanced medical care.

The incident comes close on the heels of a 20-year-old college student of FM College in Balasore immolating herself over sexual harassment on July 12. She died on July 14.

BJD supremo and Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, Naveen Patnaik, expressed deep anguish over the incident and said such cases point to a systemic failure of governance.

The incident took place at Bayabar village in Balanga police station area around 9 am when the girl was returning from her friend’s house.

Preliminary investigation revealed that three unidentified motorcycle-borne youths intercepted her, forcibly took her to the banks of the Bhargavi river, poured an inflammable substance on her, and set her on fire, a police officer said.

The spot of the incident is around 1.5 km from her house at Nuagopalpur Bustee and around 5-7 km from Balanga police station.

The miscreants fled the spot after setting the girl on fire. Local people doused the fire and later took her to Pipili government hospital, from where she was shifted to AIIMS-Bhubaneswar.

The girl’s parents lodged an FIR with Balanga police station, the officer said, adding she was a class 8 dropout and her father works at an automobile repair workshop.

Odisha Director-General of Police Y B Khurania asserted that the police will soon nab the accused persons.

“This is a sensitive incident. The police will explore legal possibilities to punish the accused persons,” he said.

Puri Superintendent of Police Pinak Mishra, who was at the spot, said that police were probing the incident and were questioning some people.

Scientific teams are engaged in the investigation. No one has been detained or arrested so far, the SP said.

Pipili Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Debasish Mishra, said that the girl suffered burn injuries on her back, abdomen and other parts.

“Two teams have been formed to nab the culprits. We are trying to search for clues from CCTV cameras installed in private homes,” he said.

The police team, during the spot verification, got hold of the bottle which contained the inflammable substance that was used to burn the girl, Mishra said.

“A dog squad has been deployed to search for the accused persons, while a manhunt has been launched in the neighbouring areas in the district as well as Bhubaneswar,” he said.

Meanwhile, separate delegations of Opposition BJD and Congress visited AIIMS Bhubaneswar and met the family members of the girl.

“She is currently under treatment... we pray for her speedy recovery,” senior Congress leader and former Union minister Srikant Jena said.

Patnaik, a former chief minister, said in a post on X: “Such unthinkable incidents against women are now being reported almost daily across #Odisha. These are not stray cases of violence. These incidents occurring with shocking regularity point to a deep systemic failure of governance.”

“The incident has happened just within a week of the self-immolation of a student of FM College after she was denied justice even after knocking on every door, which took place after the horrific incident of gang-rape in Gopalpur,” he added.

Patnaik said such incidents show that criminals have become emboldened under the present government and are not worried about being punished.

“It also shows how Odisha is becoming highly unsafe for women due to government inaction and political patronage,” he said.

“Will the Odisha govt wake up from its deep slumber and take speedy action so that the criminals are arrested? And more importantly, will the government respond so that such incidents are not repeated? The girls and women of #Odisha await a response,” he added.

Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das said, “Even though such incidents keep happening repeatedly, the government and administration have turned into mere spectators. Female students and women are unsafe in the state. Criminals no longer fear the government, administration, or police.”

“The situation is becoming more complicated day by day. Yet, the BJP government, utterly insensitive, continues to beat the drum of good governance,” he added.

NSUI activists also staged demonstrations at some places, including Bhubaneswar, in protest against the incident.