Odisha teenager succumbs to burns after setting herself afire over two-year stalking harassment

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An 18-year-old tribal college student from Odisha’s Sundargarh district, who suffered 92% burns after setting herself on fire, succumbed to her injuries in the early hours of Monday, as per HT.

The act is alleged to be a desperate response to relentless stalking and harassment by a 24-year-old man over two years, a case that has cast a renewed spotlight on a disturbing pattern of self-immolations linked to harassment and distress in the state.

The teenager, a student from Rajgangpur, died at the Rourkela hospital where she was admitted on Saturday. Medical authorities cited multiple organ failure triggered by the catastrophic burn injuries.

According to Sundargarh Police superintendent Amritpal Kaur, the young woman took the extreme step late on Friday at her home in the Lanjibera area after speaking to a male friend. A preliminary police investigation indicates that the harassment had escalated shortly before the tragedy. The accused, identified by police as 24-year-old porter Nilesh Sahu, had allegedly harassed the victim again in a passenger bus just prior to the incident.

Superintendent Kaur, citing an ongoing probe, stated that the accused had allegedly been stalking and harassing the teenager for two years, with the harassment intensifying recently. Sahu has since been arrested.

The victim's mother recounted the harrowing discovery, describing how the family awoke to her daughter's screams to find her in flames before rushing her to hospital. Rajgangpur IIC Bijay Das placed the time of the incident at around 2 am on Saturday.

Prior to the student’s death, Odisha’s Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling had said the state government was prepared to airlift her to a specialised facility in Bhubaneswar or Delhi if her condition stabilised. That intervention was rendered futile by her rapid decline.

This death marks the latest in a series of similar tragedies that have shaken Odisha in recent weeks. Just last month, a 20-year-old student in Balasore died after setting herself ablaze on campus, allegedly over inaction regarding a sexual harassment complaint. On August 2, a 15-year-old girl from Puri died at a Delhi hospital after a self-immolation incident police linked to mental stress.

Furthermore, on August 6, a 19-year-old in Kendrapara immolated herself after threats from an ex-boyfriend to leak intimate photographs online. Days later, on August 10, a 35-year-old woman in Dhenkanal sustained severe burns in a suicide attempt reportedly driven by familial loan repayment struggles.