Shimla, Jul 16 (PTI) The Himachal Pradesh unit of SFI on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Odisha Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj over the death of a student who set herself on fire after being allegedly harassed by a professor in the eastern state.
The incident happened on the campus of Fakir Mohan College in Balasore of Odisha.
The 20-year-old college student died on Wednesday, triggering nationwide outrage.
The Student Federation of India demanded a “fair, independent and time-bound” investigation against the accused professor, negligent police personnel, and the Internal Complaints Committee members of Fakir Mohan College.
Local SFI president Anil Thakur alleged that the “brutal incident” was not sudden, but a culmination of “repeated institutional apathy.” “The student had submitted complaints to the principal, ICC, local police, and even to senior BJP leaders, including Balasore MP Pratap Sarangi, Odisha’s Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj, and the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. She even made her plea public on social media. Yet, all these authorities failed her. The investigation was designed to shield the accused professor rather than deliver justice,” Thakur said in a statement.
The student leader also highlighted another incident that happened in February, when a Nepalese student at KIIT University in Bhubaneswar killed herself after facing sexual harassment.
“The institution failed to constitute a valid ICC as per the POSH Act, 2013, and the National Human Rights Commission’s findings were deliberately buried. These are not just failures, they are systemic crimes, enabled by a structure of patriarchy, impunity, and political collusion,” he said.
“Recently in Himachal Pradesh, a Class VI girl student was sexually molested by a Shastri teacher … The matter came to light after her sister informed the family, and the girl’s mother subsequently filed a police complaint,” he said.
The students’ group demanded an immediate implementation of the POSH Act and formation of a functioning Gender Sensitisation Committee against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) and Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) mechanisms in all institutions in the country.
The BJD and Congress also demanded a judicial probe into the incident and sought the removal of Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and Minister Suraj. PTI COR VN VN
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