Odisha student’s death: College's complaint committee sought removal of accused teacher, says coordinator

Bhubaneswar: The coordinator of Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College's Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) on Tuesday said the panel recommended removal of Samira Kumar Sahoo, accused of sexually harassing a female student, leading to her self-immolation death, from the post of Head of Integrated B. Ed.

However, the reason for seeking his removal was his "strict approach" and not sexually harassing students, ICC Coordinator Jayshree Mishra said.

Earlier in the day, the father of the deceased held members of the ICC "solely responsible" for his daughter's death, accusing them of preparing a "biased report" in connection with her allegation, which led her to set herself on fire on the campus on July 12.

The 20-year-old woman, a second-year student of Integrated BEd, suffered 95 per cent burns and succumbed at the AIIMS Bhubaneswar late Monday night.

The deceased student, on July 1, lodged a complaint with the ICC against Sahoo, charging him with asking for “favour” from her and mentally harassing her for not accepting his proposal.

“The ICC report had recommended that the college authorities remove Sahoo from the post due to the negative feedback from most students regarding his strict approach. But we could not get evidence against him that he sexually harassed the complainant or any other student,” Mishra told reporters.

However, no action was taken by the college authorities against the teacher, which may have traumatised the complainant, she said.

Mishra said the ICC had also advised Prof Samira Kumar Sahoo to modify his behaviour and teaching methods to better align with the students’ needs.

A member of the ICC, Minati Sethi, said they discussed with around 60 students of the integrated B.Ed course.

“Most of the students said that Sahoo was very strict and used to ask students to stand outside classrooms for even slight mistakes. Sahool had also once asked the complainant to do the same for 45 minutes for coming late. She had taken it seriously,” Sethi said.

The complaint was not allowed to write a semester examination by Sahoo on June 30, she said.

This had hurt her a lot, and she made both mental and sexual harassment complaints the next day, Sethi said.

"We questioned all female students of the department and they denied having experienced anything wrong," she said.

“However, during our questioning, the complainant had told the ICC that while passing through the corridor, Sahoo had once asked for a favour from her. When she asked what kind of favour, Sahoo allegedly said: 'You are not a child to understand what favour I needed.' But, we could not prove this allegation,” Sethi said.

It is very difficult to gather evidence on such charges, she said.

Mishra said, "We are severely hurt over the death of the student. She was an asset to the college." She said that the ICC was formed on July 1, and the probe started on July 3. They submitted the report to Principal Dillip Ghose on July 9.

Hours after the student set herself on fire on July 12, the state government suspended Sahoo, and he was arrested later that day.

The Principal was also suspended on July 12 and arrested on charges of abetment of suicide and sexual harassment on Monday.

Balasore MP Pratap Sarangi, who has seen the ICC report, claimed that the panel glorified Sahoo.