Battling with life for nearly twelve days after she was allegedly gangraped and set afire by two youths, the 14-year-old Dalit girl of Mahakalapada in Kendrapada district succumbed to her injuries in the ICU of the Capital Hospital here on Thursday.
It was the second unfortunate incident after the Pipili gang-rape victim Bebina Behera had died at the SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack on June 21 last year.
At around 7 pm, the victim accompanied by a four-member medical team from the SCB Medical College and Hospital where she was undergoing treatment for the last 12 days with 70 per cent burn injuries and septicemia (blood infection) was to leave for New Delhi from the Bhubaneswar Airport in an Air India plane for further treatment. But after reaching the airport, the doctors suggested to admit the victim at the Capital Hospital as her condition began to deteriorate fast, sources said. After a few minutes of her admission in the hospital, she succumbed to her injuries at the ICU, sources said.
Notably, a Medical Board of the SCB Hospital had on Wednesday decided to shift the 14-year-old Dalit girl to New Delhi. She had developed respiratory disorders after a fire mishap took place in the burn unit of the hospital on Sunday afternoon. Due to an electric short circuit, an AC was gutted in the adjacent cabin where the victim was under treatment. The victim’s cabin was engulfed with smoke and she allegedly inhaled smoke-filled air for over 15 minutes before she was shifted to a safer place, sources said.
The girl was allegedly raped by a group of persons in her native village in Kendrapada district late last month and later the accused persons set her on fire. Sources said the local police have arrested two persons in the case following a massive public outcry.
It may be mentioned here that a medical examination on the victim was conducted by a team of forensic doctors to ascertain whether she was raped or not.
According to sources, the doctors have preserved the swab samples of the victim for clinical examinations and have not ruled out rape after finding injuries on her vital parts.