CID charge sheet blames asst prof, principal for Odisha college suicide
Bhubaneswar, Sept. 11 -- The Odisha Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Tuesday submitted a 504-page charge sheet accusing the assistant professor and principal of a college in Balasore of abetting the suicide of the 20-year-old college student, who died in July after setting herself afire over an alleged sexual harassment incident.
The second-year student at the Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College in Balasore had on July 12 set herself on fire, demanding action against assistant professor Samir Kumar Sahu, who heads the education department at the institute.
The victim has alleged that Sahu had been asking her for "favours" and had also threatened her to destroy her academic career if she did not oblige. Sahu was arrested on July 12. She also accused college principal Dilip Ghosh of shielding Sahu.
Ghosh was arrested on July 14, the day the woman succumbed to her 95% burn injuries sparking nationwide outrage. The Crime Branch took over the investigation from the local police after the victim's death.
The investigating officer of the Crime Against Women and Children Wing (CAWCW) of the state police, Iman Kalyani Nayak, submitted a 504-page charge sheet containing statements of 120 witnesses, at the court of sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM), Balasore.
"We have enlisted 120 witnesses in the case and described the role of Sahu and Ghosh that led to the suicide of the woman," said Nayak.
The police have collected important clues, including digital evidence, from various gadgets.
"In view of the collection of further evidence and the involvement of multiple persons, the police have kept the case open," the official said.
As per the charge sheet, Sahu and Ghosh have been charged under Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita section 108 (abetment of suicide) that carries imprisonment for 10 years and fine, section 351 (2) (criminal intimidation) and section 3(5) (common intention).
Officials said a supplementary charge sheet would soon be filed against both of the accused.
The Crime Branch on August 3 arrested Subhra Sambit Nayak, the state joint secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), and Jyotiprakash Biswal, a student of the college, who also sustained injuries while rescuing the girl.
Both were also accused of abetment to suicide, and they had filmed the student setting herself ablaze....
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