Odisha burn victim airlifted to AIIMS Delhi

A 15-year-old girl, who was undergoing treatment at AIIMS Bhubaneswar after three miscreants set her ablaze in Odisha’s Puri district, was airlifted to Delhi on Sunday, officials said.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said he is deeply saddened by the incident which occurred in Balanga area in Puri district on Saturday.
“The victim has been airlifted to AIIMS Delhi for the best treatment. The state government will ensure all necessary facilities for this. I pray before Lord Jagannath for the girl’s speedy recovery,” Majhi wrote on X.
Bhubaneswar DCP Jagmohan Meena told reporters that a green corridor was set up to take the patient from AIIMS Bhubaneswar to Biju Patnaik International Airport, and one platoon of police force was deployed.
Bhubaneswar Traffic DCP Tapan Kumar Mohanty said that the ambulance carrying the patient reached the airport from AIIMS Bhubaneswar within 10 to 12 minutes. She was taken in an advanced life support ambulance with a dedicated medical team. A green corridor in the context of healthcare refers to a special, cleared-out route for ambulances transporting organs for transplantation or severely ill patients to reach their destination in the shortest possible time.
After reaching the airport, she boarded an air ambulance for the national capital, where she would be admitted to AIIMS Delhi, they said. The girl, with 70 per cent burns, was on oxygen support in the ICU at the Department of Burn Centre in AIIMS Bhubaneswar.
“The patient’s condition is stable, and her blood pressure, which was low yesterday, has improved. It was safe to transfer her,” AIIMS Bhubaneswar Executive Director Ashutosh Biswas told reporters before her departure.
Meanwhile, BJD leaders and supporters staged a protest before Balanga police station, demanding immediate arrest of the accused persons involved in the incident. Holding party flags, posters and banners, the BJD workers marched to the police station and engaged in a scuffle with police personnel while trying to gherao the building.
“More than 24 hours have passed since the barbaric incident but the culprits have not yet been arrested,” BJD leader and former minister Tukuni Sahu said. One after another incident of violence against girls is happening in Odisha as the government has failed to protect them, she alleged.
“We have come to the police station to know about the whereabouts of the persons who tried to kill the girl by setting her ablaze. The police are still clueless about the accused persons,” another BJD leader, Pradeep Kumar Majhi, said.
Similarly, senior Congress leader and former Union minister Srikant Jena said, “The back-to-back incidents that happened in Balasore and then in Balanga area in Puri show that the law and order situation has completely collapsed in the state. Women and girls are nowhere safe in the state.”
The second incident happened in the home turf of Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida. But she is yet to visit the victim or her family, he alleged. Jena said the state government has no moral right to continue further. BJP leader Samir Ranjan Dash said the police are continuing their investigation into the incident. “We all are hopeful that the accused persons will be arrested soon,” he said.
The victim has been airlifted to AIIMS Delhi for better treatment. All should pray for her speedy recovery, he said.
As the victim was able to speak on Saturday, the police have recorded her statement in the presence of a magistrate at the ICU, an official said, adding that her statement is vital for the investigation.
Preliminary police investigation revealed that three motorcycle-borne youths intercepted the teenager, forcibly took her to the banks of Bhargavi River near Bayabar village in Balanga police station area, poured an inflammable substance on her, and set her on fire on Saturday. The miscreants fled the spot after the incident, police said.
Local people doused the fire and later took her to Pipili government hospital, from where she was shifted to AIIMS Bhubaneswar.
The girl’s mother has lodged an FIR with Balanga police station, officials said, adding the victim was a class 8 dropout and her father works at a motor garage.
The police have picked up some persons and were interrogating them in connection with the case, a police officer said.