Odisha girl set on fire: BJP targeting opposition, not protecting daughters, claims TMC

West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday termed the incident of a 15-year-old girl being set on fire by miscreants in BJP-ruled Odisha's Puri district as "criminal negligence", and accused the saffron party of witch-hunting opposition parties instead of protecting the country's daughters.

The incident — which follows close on the heels of an incident of self-immolation in Balasore which led to the death of a 20-year-old college student — occurred in Bayabar village in the Balanga police station area at around 9.00 am, as the girl was on the way to a friend's house. Preliminary investigations revealed that three unidentified motorcycle-borne youths intercepted her, forcibly took her to the bank of the Bhargavi river, sprinkled an inflammable substance on her body, and set her on fire, a police officer said.

The crime scene is around 1.5 km from her house at Nuagopalpur Bustee and 5-7 km from 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.

Odisha deputy chief minister Pravati Parida, who is in charge of the women and child development department, said the government would bear the expenses of the girl's treatment and the police have been asked to arrest the culprits as soon as possible.

Pipili sub-divisional police officer Debasish Mishra said the girl suffered burn injuries on her back, abdomen and other parts. "Two teams have been formed to nab the culprits. We are trying to find clues from CCTV cameras installed in private homes," he said.

“A 15-year-old girl in Puri was set on fire by 3 miscreants in Broad Daylight! @BJP4India, Where is your Beti Bachao slogan now? Where is @NCWIndia hiding? Or are they too busy witch-hunting opposition voices instead of protecting India’s daughters? This isn’t governance. It’s criminal negligence. PM @narendranodi, blood is on your hands!” the TMC said in a post on X.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Friday launched a blistering attack on the TMC government at a public meeting in West Bengal's Durgapur, accusing it of fostering an environment of violence, corruption, and insecurity that has turned the state into a dangerous place for women.

Modi had expressed concern over women’s safety in the state, referring to the murder of a doctor at RG Kar hospital last year, and the recent alleged gangrape of a student at a Kolkata law college.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Opposition BJD (Biju Janata Dal) and Congress members visited AIIMS Bhubaneswar and met the family of the girl, and doctors. "She is currently under treatment... we pray for her speedy recovery," senior Congress leader and former Union minister Srikant Jena said.

BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik expressed deep anguish over the incident and said such cases point to a systemic failure of governance. In a post on X, Patnaik, also leader of the opposition in the state assembly, said, "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.

"The incident has happened just within a week of the self-immolation of a student of FM College after she was denied justice even after knocking on every door, which took place after the horrific incident of gang-rape in Gopalpur."

Patnaik said such incidents show that criminals have become emboldened under the present government and are not worried about being punished. "It also shows how Odisha is becoming highly unsafe for women due to government inaction and political patronage," he said.

"Will the Odisha govt wake up from its deep slumber and take speedy action so that the criminals are arrested? And more importantly, will the government respond so that such incidents are not repeated? The girls and women of #Odisha await a response," he added.

A 20-year-old student of Balasore's Fakir Mohan College set herself on fire on campus on 12 July in protest against her claims of sexual harassment at the hands of a professor going unheeded. She died on 14 July.

With PTI inputs