Activists of women of various political parties and others are seen in condolences against the death of a student of Fhakir Mohan University in Bhubaneswar, which burned to self -confidence in the University campus in Balasore. | PHOTO CREDIT: BISWARANJAN ROUTE
The letter, allegedly signed by more than 70 classmates of a girl who ended her life in the corridor Fakir Mohan (autonomous) college in Balasore, Odisha, emerged, and the signatories allegedly demanded its expulsion.
The brother of the deceased, however, claimed that the signature campaign was organized by Samira Kumar Sahoo, a teacher at the Ministry of Education of Teachers, who is charged with the harassment of his sister.
“The teacher took advantage of her strength to influence academic performance to sign her with students,” he added, adding that her classmate’s letter had caused her another mental agony before her self -confidence on July 12. Sahoo was arrested on the same day.
The deceased girl then claimed that her complaint about sexual harassment had not been reported for a long time. Death triggered nationwide outrage.
The letter of her classmates claimed that the complaint against the teacher brought a bad name for college, and if the girl did not provide any evidence, she and her supporters should be rusted from college.
In a letter addressed to the then director Dillip Ghosh, students of the second year B.ED. Stream said that the teacher is a gently spoken, highly educated, effective and non -discriminatory and complaint about the harassment was based on lies.
The deceased brother challenged the intention and timing of the letter and claimed: “My sister submitted her complaint to the harassment of the Inner Complaint Commission 1.
He also claimed that “as the head of the Program of the Ministry of Beds with the power to influence academic performance, Sahoo had to mobilize the signature campaign. It should be probed impartially.”
Meanwhile, the police branch of the police Odisha launched an investigation into the interaction with the family members of the girl.
The deceased also said that the accused threatened to destroy her academic career. Do they have the head of the department (hour) at autonomous universities? Some experts believe that the threat was not completely empty.
In autonomous universities, HODS plays a dominant role – they design courses, finish the list of examined, set questionnaires, and decide who evaluates the responses scripts. While the university authorities often claim that evaluators are external, in practice, the HODS has the final word in their selection.
“It is almost impossible to question bad signs in humanities, where the evaluation is interpretative. The evaluators can easily avert the accusation by quoting unreadable manuscripts or irrational answers,” said an academic expert who wanted to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the case.
To reduce this concentration of power, it suggested that at least 50% of questions in humanities should be more options, allowing more objective evaluation.
When he was contacted, Vice-Chairman Fakir Mohan University Santosh Kumar Tripathy said, “The university has no administrative control of autonomous universities. They decide on all-curriculum after evaluation. We only sign certificates and declare the results.”
Professor Tripatha argued that autonomous universities should be brought as a constitutional university to ensure responsibility.
Published – 18 July 2025 20:16
