Odisha self-immolation case: Crime branch says student's complaint not validated by enquiry team

Balasore: The Crime Branch of the Odisha Police, which is investigating the self-immolation death of a college student in Balasore, on Sunday said the 20-year-old woman had set herself on fire as her complaint of sexual harassment was "not validated" by an internal enquiry committee of the institute.

Addressing a press conference here, Crime Branch DG Vinaytosh Mishra said its sleuths found discrepancies in the statements of witnesses in the case.

"The college authorities had taken action on her complaint, and an internal inquiry was conducted. But the internal inquiry team did not validate her complaint.

"Her extreme step was a reaction to the non-validation of her plaint," the director general of the crime branch said.

The branch’s Crime Against Women & Children Wing (CAW&CW) has been probing into the self-immolation death of the student over her alleged complaint against Samira Kumar Sahoo, the head of the department of Integrated BEd of the Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College.

The student immolated herself on July 12 and died on the night of July 14, triggering nationwide outrage.

The crime branch, which took over the investigation from the Balasore district police, started an inquiry into the matter on July 17.

“We have found inconsistencies between statements of witnesses to the internal complaints committee and police, and their posts on social media. They have given different views and opinions before and after the incident. A thorough analysis of every statement is necessary, and it will take time. A proper analysis is needed against digital evidence to reach a conclusion,” the DG said.

Stating that all will get justice as per the law, Mishra said the crime branch will ensure that no innocent person is held responsible for the death of the college student.

He said the government has taken the matter seriously, and CAW&CW inspector general S Shyni has visited Balasore twice to oversee the investigation.

He said this is a complicated case and the local police have arrested two persons, Sahoo and then principal of the Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College Dillip Ghose.

The crime branch is mandated to identify all those directly or indirectly involved in the incident, the DG said.

He said the CCTV footage and other digital evidence collected by the crime branch are being sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory for its opinion.

Statements of internal complaints committee members and college staff were also being recorded, he said, adding that the probe is underway to find out whether anyone provoked her to go for self-immolation.

"The crime branch has got a number of leads in the case. We assure all that the probe has been conducted in a fair manner to ensure justice for the 20-year-old woman," Mishra said.

Replying to a question, the crime branch DG made it clear that the victim had not submitted a written complaint with the police, though the then principal of the college had invited some police officials to a meeting on her allegation.

In addition to the crime branch, a four-member fact-finding team from UGC and a high-level team of Odisha’s higher education department are also conducting investigations separately, an official said.

The UGC team’s probe reached the third day on Sunday, and its members refused to give any indication of their findings.

The members of the internal complaints committee, formed by the college authority to look into the grievances of the student, were being questioned by the investigating teams, and their statements have been recorded, an official said without divulging details.