Bhubaneswar: Nearly 20 days after the death of a 20-year-old B.Ed student of Fakir Mohan Autonomous College in Balasore, the Odisha Crime Branch has taken significant action by arresting two students in connection with the case last night.

The accused have been identified as Subhra Sambit Nayak and Jyotiprakash Biswal. Both were arrested after being allegedly found involved in encouraging or supporting the victim’s extreme step of attempting self-immolation.

Both accused were produced in court and later remanded to 14-day judicial custody. They have been arrested under Section 108 of the BNS (abetment of suicide).

The students allegedly provoked her and also recorded videos on mobile phones as she attempted self-immolation near the college principal’s chamber on July 12. She had earlier staged a sit-in protest demanding action against the Head of Department, Samir Kumar Sahu, whom she accused of sexually harassing her. Distressed over the college administration's alleged inaction on her complaint, she set herself ablaze.

She suffered over 90% burn injuries and died two days later, on July 14, while undergoing treatment at AIIMS Bhubaneswar. Prior to that, she was initially admitted to the Balasore District Headquarters Hospital.

Jyotiprakash, one of the arrested students, was reportedly injured while trying to rescue her. 

Earlier, the Sahadevkhunta police had arrested Samir Kumar Sahu based on an FIR filed under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.