The Orissa government’s efforts to airlift the 14-year-old girl who was set on fire by youths at Kharanasi village on July 28 to Safdarjung hospital in New Delhi went in vain as the burn victim succumbed to her injuries on Thursday night.
The girl, a Class IV student, breathed her last at around 11.45 pm. Although she was supposed to be flown in to Delhi in a special air ambulance at 9 pm, the team of doctors accompanying her from SCB Medical College found her condition at the airport “quite serious” and “not advisable to board the flight.” Soon after, the doctors declared her dead. As the news of the girl’s death spread in the city, hundreds of youths took to the streets shouting slogans against the Naveen Patnaik government. The youths went on a rampage by setting on fire a stationary truck at Ram Mandir Square and a few other vehicles at Master Canteen. At least 20 platoons of police forces have been deployed in the city to defuse the tension. The protesters even held demonstration in front of health minister Damodar Rout and chief minister Naveen Patnaik. The Congress and BJP blamed the state government.