The Crime Department of the Odisha Police, which is investigating the self-immolation loss of life of a school scholar in Balasore, mentioned that the 20-year-old lady had set herself on fireplace as her grievance of sexual harassment was “not validated” by an inner enquiry committee of the institute.
Crime Department DG Vinaytosh Mishra mentioned its sleuths discovered discrepancies within the statements of witnesses within the case.
“The school authorities had taken motion on her grievance, and an inner inquiry was carried out. However the inquiry crew didn’t validate her grievance. Her excessive step was a response to the non-validation of her plaint,” the director common of the crime department advised reporters on Sunday.
#WATCH | Balasore | On the Balasore self-immolation case, Odisha Crime Department DG Vinaytosh Mishra says, “This incident occurred on the twelfth July, and on the seventeenth July, our Crime Department’s Girls’s Crime Wing started the investigation. Within the preliminary section, the native police arrested 2… pic.twitter.com/gjkPCON6BO
— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2025
The department’s Crime Towards Girls & Youngsters Wing (CAW&CW) has been probing into the self-immolation loss of life of the scholar after being denied justice over alleged sexual harassment by Samira Kumar Sahoo, the pinnacle of the division of Built-in BEd of the Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) School.
The coed immolated herself on July 12 and died on the evening of July 14, triggering nationwide outrage.
The crime department, which took over the investigation from the Balasore district police, began an inquiry into the matter on July 17.
“Now we have discovered inconsistencies between statements of witnesses to the interior complaints committee and police, and their posts on social media. They’ve given totally different views and opinions earlier than and after the incident. An intensive evaluation of each assertion is important, and it’ll take time. A correct evaluation is required in opposition to digital proof to succeed in a conclusion,” the DG mentioned.
Stating that every one will get justice as per the regulation, Mishra mentioned the crime department will be certain that no harmless individual is held chargeable for the loss of life of the school scholar.
He mentioned the federal government has taken the matter critically, and CAW&CW inspector common S Shyni has visited Balasore twice to supervise the investigation.
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He mentioned this was a sophisticated case and the native police had arrested two individuals, Sahoo after which principal of the Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) School Dillip Ghose.
The crime department is remitted to determine all these instantly or not directly concerned within the incident, the DG mentioned.
He mentioned the CCTV footage and different digital proof collected by the crime department have been being despatched to the State Forensic Science Laboratory for its opinion.
Statements of inner complaints committee members and school workers have been additionally being recorded, he mentioned, including that the probe was underway to search out out whether or not anybody provoked her to go for self-immolation.
“The crime department has received quite a few leads within the case. We guarantee all that the probe has been carried out in a good method to make sure justice for the 20-year-old lady,” Mishra mentioned.
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Replying to a query, the crime department DG made it clear that the sufferer had not submitted a written grievance with the police, although the then principal of the school had invited some police officers to a gathering on her allegation.
Along with the crime department, a four-member fact-finding crew from UGC and a high-level crew of Odisha’s larger schooling division have been additionally conducting investigations individually, an official mentioned.
The UGC crew’s probe entered the third day on Sunday, and its members refused to present any indication of their findings.
The members of the interior complaints committee, shaped by the school authority to look into the grievances of the scholar, have been being questioned by the investigating groups, and their statements had been recorded, an official mentioned with out divulging particulars.