Amid a slew of cases in Odisha involving young women setting themselves on fire, the state government has asked police to review women’s grievances and take proactive measures.
On July 12, a 20-year-old student of a leading government college in Balasore district self-immolated over alleged inaction by authorities over her complaint of sexual harassment by a professor. In the month since then, at least three other such cases were reported at different parts of the state.
The Crime Against Women and Children Wing (CAW&CW) of the Odisha Police on Tuesday asked all SPs to review all pending grievances and fresh grievances of women and girls that have been reported and to take proactive measures to prevent them from resorting to self-harm.
The SPs have been asked to advise the women and girls found to be distressed due to any ongoing situation to seek mental health support at the district level or through Tele-MANAS.
CAW&CW inspector S Shyni, in a letter to all SPs, said studies have shown that the reporting and portrayal of suicidal behaviour in the media have potentially negative influences and facilitate suicidal acts.
“Anecdotal evidence of the negative influence of media reporting is increasingly accumulating in the Odisha context too, as many girls/women have taken recourse to the same method of self-immolation for committing suicide since the Balasore incident,” the letter said.
Instructions have been issued to organise awareness campaigns and workshops to screen and map pre-existing vulnerabilities among teenagers, who are said to be a higher-risk category, in coordination with various other government departments. The initiative aims to promote mental health awareness, build resilience, and encourage timely help-seeking.
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They have also been asked to sensitise mediapersons regarding the reporting of suicide cases, understanding the sensitivity and potential negative influences.
Considering the increase in the number of suicide cases, police across the state have launched awareness drives against suicide and to put an end to an alarming pattern of self-immolation by women and girls.
Taking a dig at the BJP government over the “heartbreaking pattern”, former Odisha chief minister and current Opposition Leader Naveen Patnaik said the desperation of the victims is not just a personal tragedy, but reflects the failure to hear their issues. “The BJP administration is failing to create confidence in the system where our daughters feel safe, valued and heard,” he wrote on X.
