President Murmu Visits AIIMS to Check on Critically Ill Odisha Student

Quick Summary

• Incident Overview: President Droupadi Murmu visited a burn unit at AIIMS Bhubaneswar to check on the condition of a 20-year-old student, who is critically injured following a self-immolation attempt after alleging repeated sexual harassment by her teacher. The student remains on life support without signs of improvement or deterioration.

• Context: The B.Ed. student from F.M. Autonomous College, Balasore, set herself on fire outside the Principal’s office after claiming that college authorities ignored her complaints against the accused teacher.

• President’s Visit: Ms. Murmu deviated from her scheduled program to visit the burn unit during AIIMS’s fifth convocation ceremony. She spoke with doctors about additional steps for treatment and met with the student’s family to console them.

• Arrests & Actions Taken:

– Accused teacher samir Sahu and Principal Dillip Ghosh were arrested.
– A high-level probe team submitted an interim report leading up to these arrests.
– Odisha colleges were directed to form internal committees within 24 hours under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013.

• Government and Institutional Response:

– Odisha Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati instructed authorities to safeguard students’ dignity and prevent similar incidents.
– National Human Rights Commission requested an official report from the Odisha government regarding this case.

Indian Opinion Analysis

The tragic incident underscores systemic lapses in addressing sexual harassment complaints within educational institutions, bringing attention to gaps in institutional accountability mechanisms like Internal Committees mandated under existing laws. The swift arrests and actions following public outcry signify growing sensitivity but also highlight reactive governance rather than proactive oversight in ensuring safe environments for students-notably women.President Murmu’s unplanned visit gains symbolic importance as it emphasizes concern at India’s highest levels for such cases while potentially deepening focus on broader reforms in higher education administration protocols. This incident may prompt stronger enforcement measures across states aimed at averting future tragedies by building faster grievance redress systems that prioritize students’ safety and dignity institutionally.

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