Bargarh: After battling for life for hours, the 13 year-old girl, who was rescued today in a half-charred state from a field in Padampur in Odisha's Bargarh district, succumbed during treatment at VIMSAR in Burla. She had sustained over 80 per cent burn injuries. This is the latest incident following four deaths of women by burning in a span of one month. 

While initially it was suspected that the teenager attempted self-immolation by pouring petrol over herself, the incident took a shocking twist after an audio clip of the girl pleading for help and accusing another girl of having set her on fire, surfaced. 

In the recorded conversation, purportedly that between the victim and villagers who rushed to her rescue, the girl is heard alleging that she was 'set on fire' by another female. She had also urgently pleaded the locals to save her, which indicates that the girl may not have committed the act herself. 

Police meanwhile said a three member team has been formed to investigate the incident from all angles. "The girl was staying in a residential school hostel. She had been unwell for a while and come home since a month. We are trying to piece together events that transpired in this period and could have led to the shocking circumstances," a senior police official told mediapersons. "The girl's treatment at VIMSAR had begun by 10.30 am. However, doctors later informed us that she succumbed. A case of un-natural death has been registered basing on the report by the victim's parents who stated that it was a suicide attempt," he added. 

The girl was found in a critical, half-charred state by neighbours in a football field just behind her house at around 7.30 am in Phiringmala village within Gaisilet police limits. A Class 8 student, she was studing in a residential school in Saplahar in Paikmal block. Sources in the family said a few days back, the girl had shared about a fellow classmate saying something hurtful to her.

On July 12, a 20-year-old female student of Fakir Mohan College in Balasore set herself ablaze n her college campus over alleged sexual harassment. She died at AIIMS Bhubaneswar two days later. Barely after a week, a minor girl was allegedly set on fire by three miscreants in Balanga in Puri. She was shifted to AIIMS Delhi in a critical state where she succumbed on August 2. The same day, a 26-year-old woman died while her male companion sustained burn injuries after they allegedly self-immolated themselves in a paddy field at Khiching in Mayurbhanj district. Before the public outrage could abate, a third-year undergraduate woman college student’s charred body was found from her house in Kendrapara district's Pattamundai police limits.