Life thrown out of gear in Odisha as INDIA bloc observes 12-hr shutdown over girl student self-immolation

Normal life was thrown out of gear on Thursday across the state as the INDIA bloc, spearheaded by Congress, staged a dawn-to-dusk 12-hour shutdown in protest against the death by suicide of an undergraduate integrated B.Ed student of FM College in Balasore over prolonged sexual harassment by an assistant professor and inaction on the part of government authorities to address the female student’s complaints.

The shutdown that commenced at 6 am, disrupted vehicular and rail traffic and affected day-to-day life in all parts of the state. The banking, transport, and education sectors, besides government offices, were affected following the dawn-to-dusk bandh call.

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Vehicular movement has come to a grinding halt in the state as protesters resorted to road blockades and picketing at various junctions. Passengers were stranded at major bus stands across the state. City bus services in many places, like Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, and Puri, were suspended.

Educational institutions were shut while around 3,000 fuel stations across the state remained closed as a precautionary measure.

By and large, there was a show of spontaneous support for the INDIA bloc’s bandh call while anticipating trouble; commercial establishments opted to shut their doors.

A large number of passengers were seen stranded at railway stations and bus stands at many places, while roads wore a deserted look during the shutdown.

The shutdown observance is peaceful and incident-free so far. No untoward incident has been reported. Police forces are keeping a strict vigil to avert possible breach of peace while 200 platoons of police are deployed across the state to maintain law and order, said a senior police official.

Deeply traumatised by an assistant professor seeking sexual favours and threatening to sabotage her academic career, the undergraduate girl student had set herself afire by pouring petrol on 12 July right in front of the principal’s chamber. The victim had brought the matter to the notice of the college authorities and local police. She had tagged her ‘X’ post to the CM, the union education minister, and the state’s higher education minister, besides the director general of police, but to no avail. The victim succumbed to burn injuries during late-night hours on 14 July.

The tragic self-immolation of the female students and the circumstances that drove the victim to take this extreme step have dealt a severe blow to the one-year-old BJP government in the state, raising serious questions on the efficacy of government machinery to deal with sensitive cases related to crime against women. As the unsavory episode and handling of the matter by ‘insensitive’ authorities grabbed the media spotlight, it also stirred the conscience of the nation.