Girl kills self over denial of money to buy pencil, book

A 12-year-old schoolgirl, who set herself ablaze after her poor parents refused to buy her a pencil and a notebook in Aska town in Odisha’s Ganjam district on Wednesday, died on Thursday at a government hospital in Berhampur.

The girl, identified as Jayanti Naik, asked her mother for Rs 10 to buy a pencil and a notebook.

The mother refused as she had no money but assured her that she will give it to her after returning home from work.

However, after her mother, a daily wager, left home, Jayanti, a Class VII student at the local government girls high school, locked herself in a room before dousing herself in kerosene and setting herself on fire.

Though her father, also a daily wager, was present in the house, he could do little as he has been a paralytic for some time now.

Neighbours rushed to the house and rescued the girl after hearing her screams. However, by that time, she had already suffered 70 per cent burns.

She was rushed to the MKCG medical college and hospital in Berhampur in a very critical condition where she succumbed to her injuries on Thursday morning.

The local police in Aska town have registered a case and begun an investigation.