Two arrested for instigating Odisha woman to commit self-immolation

Two men were arrested in Odisha's Balasore district for allegedly instigating a 20-year-old college student to commit self-immolation, the police said on Monday. 

According to a senior official, the state Crime Branch took the two accused into custody late Sunday night in connection with the young woman's self-immolation last month.

The woman, a student of the Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College in Balasore, had set herself on fire as her complaint of sexual harassment was "not validated" by an internal enquiry committee of the institute, according to the police. 

"The arrested persons are Jyoti Prakash Biswal, a student of the college, who had sustained burn injuries in an attempt to save the woman, and Subhra Sambait Nayak, the state joint secretary of a student organisation," the officer said.

Biswal was recently discharged from the SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack after recovering from burn injuries. They were picked up from their residences late on Sunday, the officer said.

Earlier, Samira Kumar Sahoo, an assistant professor of the college, and ex-principal of the institute, Dillip Ghose, were arrested in connection with the case.