A disturbing incident of setting a college girl on fire took place in Bayabar village of Odisha’s Puri district on the morning of 19 July. Around 08:30, the girl was on her way to a friend’s house when three bike-borne men with partially covered faces grabbed her. They dragged her to the banks of the Bhargavi River and set her on fire.
What makes the incident even more alarming is that it occurred only 1.5 kilometres from a local police station. The incident occurred within a week when a college undergraduate in Balasore district set herself on fire on 12 July. The student had reportedly filed a sexual harassment complaint against a faculty member, which was ignored. She died of her injuries two days later, on 14 July.
Even in unthinkable horror, not giving up, she chose to run
The girl somehow managed to escape and ran through the neighbourhood, even as the flames burnt her skin. Her hands were tied and her mouth was gagged, yet she kept running in the hope of finding help. The person named Dukhishyam Senapati, who helped her, told NDTV that ‘The girl was on fire when she came running towards my house. Her hands were tied and she had suffered serious burns. My wife, daughter and I doused the flames and gave her new clothes. Then, I spoke to her. She told me she lived in a nearby village.’ He further adds, ‘We heard nothing. She was gagged, and her hands were tied. She told me that three men on two bikes forcibly brought her here, poured kerosene and set her on fire.’
Dukhishyam Senapati added, ‘She said she was walking back home after meeting a friend when she was picked up by three men who arrived on motorcycles. The faces of these men were half-covered, and they took her to a place near the Bhargavi riverbank. She could not tell their names. She could only say that they covered her face with a handkerchief and poured some substance before setting her on fire.’
‘The girl was on fire when she came running towards my house. Her hands were tied and she had suffered serious burns. My wife, daughter and I doused the flames‘
Dukhishyam was the one who informed her parents and later took her to Pipili Hospital, but after that she was shifted to AIIMS Bhubaneswar and finally airlifted to AIIMS Delhi. Nearly 70% of her total body surface area (TBSA) is covered with burn injuries. While talking about the severity of the burn injuries, Dr Ashutosh Biswas, the Executive Director of AIIMS-Bhubaneswar, said, ‘On some parts, she sustained third-degree burns.’
Forensic clues point to premeditation.
The victim’s mother has lodged a police complaint, stating that her daughter had dropped out of school and that her husband works as a motor mechanic. In her complaint, she has alleged that there was an attempt to murder her daughter. This might add an angle of complexity to the case, suggesting the murder might have been a targeted act of retribution or intimidation, often seen in the cases of gendered violence.
The exact motive behind the attack is still unclear, but initial investigations indicate that it was planned in advance. From the crime scene, police recovered a half-filled bottle of kerosene, a matchbox, and one of the victim’s shoes. A forensic team has collected samples and other evidence for examination. According to a police officer, ‘The miscreants were possibly aware of the girl’s movement and came prepared. We are investigating all the angles.’
Hospital bills waiver cannot resolve systemic failure
Ever since the incident, both the district administration and the state government have been quick to announce that they will cover the girl’s medical expenses. But the question is, can those responsible for citizens’ security truly compensate for what happened to that girl by merely paying her hospital bills?
No, they certainly cannot undo the authorities’ negligence, nor does paying hospital bills address the deeply broken state of women’s safety. When such a horrific crime can occur barely 1.5 kilometres from a police station, and when cases of violence against women continue to rise, the government cannot simply wash its hands of the matter. Especially when such brutality is fast becoming the new normal. This incident is not an isolated lapse but part of a broader pattern of indifference, where rural police stations often lack the resources or training to respond effectively. Reports from the region suggest that understaffing and outdated equipment have long plagued Odisha’s law enforcement, leaving communities vulnerable to such atrocities.
This incident is not an isolated lapse but part of a broader pattern of indifference, where rural police stations often lack the resources or training to respond effectively. Reports from the region suggest that understaffing and outdated equipment have long plagued Odisha’s law enforcement, leaving communities vulnerable to such atrocities.
Just last month, a college girl was gang-raped at Gopalpur Beach in Ganjam district. Soon after, another young woman set herself on fire because she completely lost hope in the system. These cases, though different in their details, have a common sense of despair, where victims feel abandoned by a police and safety system that cannot prevent such crimes or act fast or decisively. The Gopalpur incident, for instance, saw the public outrage fizzle out without any significant change.
And now, in this latest case, four days have passed without a single arrest. In this situation, the government must take responsibility and act decisively to prevent such brutality from becoming the norm. The silence, the inaction, and the delay raise urgent and unsettling questions about accountability and the value of women’s lives in this country.
Outrage is loud, but all parties fail women.
The incident sparked immediate outrage across political parties, with members of both the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Congress taking to the streets. But the larger question remains: do these parties ensure women’s safety when they are in power? The answer, unfortunately, is no. Whether in states ruled by the Congress, BJD, or BJP, women’s security remains alarmingly compromised.
This is not to defend the BJP-led state government in Odisha, but rather to highlight a deeper, systemic failure that cuts across party lines. Unless we, as citizens, come together and lead collective movements demanding accountability, these political parties will continue to use such tragedies for optics without addressing the root problems.
Such movements must go beyond protests, demanding concrete reforms like mandatory gender sensitisation training for police and faster judicial processes for violence cases. If they haven’t taken meaningful action until now, there is little reason to believe they will unless we force them to.
