No school fee, girl sets self afire

A 15-year-old girl in Odisha set herself on fire after her parents said they couldn't pay her school fee, a family member said. An official Saturday termed it as an accident.

The incident took place in Khutuguda village in Nabarangapur district, about 700 kms from here, Thursday.

Kanak Dei Bhatra, a class 10 student, requested her parents to give around Rs.200 for school fee. Her parents are daily wage earners and said they didn't have the money, her sister Lalita said.

The teenager then went inside a room, poured kerosene on her body and set herself on fire, she said.

The family members and villagers rescued her but she had already sustained over 85 percent burn injuries.

She was shifted to a hospital where her condition is said to be serious.

District official Parikhita Sethi said he had visited the house of the victim and investigated into the matter. "It was a case of accident," Sethi told IANS Saturday.

The victim recently skipped classes and worked as a labourer to buy books and other study materials with the money she earned, local news paper Sambad said Saturday.

In a separate incident, a 14-year-old had committed suicide at her home in Aska town, about 170 km from here, last month after her parents said they didn't have enough money to buy her pencils, notebook, and other study materials.