In a shocking incident in Odisha, a 15-year-old girl was set on fire by a few miscreants at Balanga in Puri district this morning. The minor girl who was rescued by the locals is reported to have more than 60 percent burn injury and is admitted in the burn unit of AIIMS at Bhubaneswar in a critical condition. The incident occurred when the girl was walking to a relative’s house. She was forcibly taken away to an isolated place near the Bhargabi river bank by the miscreants who poured some inflammable liquid on her and set her ablaze before fleeing the scene.

Senior police officials have rushed to the spot and efforts are on to nab the culprits as soon as possible. The Odisha government has declared to bear all the treatment expenses of the girl.

The incident comes days after the self-immolation death of a 20-year-old girl student of Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College at Balasore alleging sexual harassment by a faculty member and the incident created nationwide furore.