Miscreants Set 15-Year-Old Girl on Fire in Puri, Victim Under Treatment at AIIMS Bhubaneswar; BJP Witch-Hunting Opposition Instead of Protecting Daughters: TMC

PTI, BHUBANESWAR, JULY 19, 2025: A 15-year-old girl was set on fire by unidentified persons in Odisha's Puri district on Saturday, officials said. The girl is undergoing treatment at AIIMS Bhubaneswar and is in critical condition, having suffered 70 percent burn injuries. However, she is able to speak, they added.

Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida, who is in charge of the Women and Child Development department, said the government will bear the expenses of the girl’s treatment and that the police have been instructed to arrest the culprits as soon as possible.

This incident comes closely on the heels of a 20-year-old college student from FM College in Balasore immolating herself over sexual harassment on July 12. She died on July 14. BJD supremo and Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, Naveen Patnaik, expressed deep anguish over the incident and said such cases point to a systemic failure of governance.

The incident occurred at Bayabar village in the Balanga police station area around 9 am when the girl was returning from her friend’s house. Preliminary investigations revealed that three unidentified motorcycle-borne youths intercepted her, forcibly took her to the banks of the Bhargavi River, poured an inflammable substance on her, and set her on fire, a police officer said. The spot of the incident is around 1.5 km from her house at Nuagopalpur Bustee and about 5-7 km from the Balanga police station.

The miscreants fled the spot after setting the girl on fire. Local people doused the fire and later took her to Pipili government hospital, from where she was shifted to AIIMS Bhubaneswar for further treatment.

The girl’s parents lodged an FIR with the Balanga police station. She was a class 8 dropout, and her father works at an automobile repair workshop. AIIMS Bhubaneswar formed a 14-member team of doctors for the proper treatment of the girl. The committee includes doctors from medicine, pulmonary medicine, anesthesia, gynecology, forensic medicine, nephrology, cardiology, and other departments.

Odisha Director General of Police Y.B. Khurania asserted that the police will soon nab the accused persons. "This is a sensitive incident. The police will explore legal possibilities to punish the accused persons," he said.

Deputy CM Parida, in a post on X, stated: "I am saddened and shocked to hear the news that some miscreants at Balanga in Puri district poured petrol on a fifteen-year-old girl and set her on fire. The girl has been immediately shifted to AIIMS Bhubaneswar, and all arrangements are being made for her treatment. All the expenses of the treatment will be borne by the government. The police administration has been directed to arrest the culprits immediately and take strict action," she said.

Meanwhile, separate delegations from the Opposition BJD and Congress visited AIIMS Bhubaneswar and met the family members of the girl. Patnaik, a former Chief Minister, said in a post on X: "Such unthinkable incidents against women are now being reported almost daily across #Odisha. These are not stray cases of violence. These incidents occurring with shocking regularity point to a deep systemic failure of governance."