Bhubaneswar: The father of the 20-year-old college student, who attempted self-immolation after allegedly being denied justice in a sexual harassment case on Sunday, claimed that his daughter was pressured by college authorities to withdraw her complaint.

Blaming the principal of Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College, Dillip Ghose, the father told reporters in Bhubaneswar, “My daughter’s friends told me that she set herself on fire minutes after meeting the principal. She had gone to his chamber to know the findings of the Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) probing her allegations.”

“The principal told my daughter that the ICC did not find any evidence to support her sexual harassment allegations against Samir Kumar Sahu, the Head of the Education department,” the father said, alleging that the news may have worsened her mental distress, leading her to set herself on fire.

The student’s father also alleged that Sahu had threatened to sabotage her academic records if she did not comply with his demand for “favours”. “When she lodged a complaint with the ICC against him, he brought together a few students and started claiming that all her allegations were baseless. She was under immense mental stress. The principal also did not provide any consolation to my daughter,” he added.

The student’s father also claimed that he had also met the principal after his daughter lodged a complaint against the teacher. “The principal had told me not to worry and he will resolve whatever issues are there,” he said, wondering how a principal could not stop a 20-year-old woman from attempting suicide.

The girl’s father rejected any suggestion that his daughter was emotionally weak. “She was a master trainer in self-defence for girls. She wrote beautiful poems and won the Best Actress award in college in 2024,” he said, his voice breaking. “I don’t even know if I’ll be able to take my daughter back home,” he said.