'She Knocked, Screaming In Pain': Odisha Local Recalls How He Rescued Teen Set On Fire

Last Updated:July 21, 2025, 07:56 IST

A local of Odisha's Balanga said the girl, who was set ablaze by unknown persons, knocked on his door screaming for help. With his wife’s assistance, he doused the flames on her.

Puri: BJD workers during a gherao at a police station in protest after a 15-year-old girl was set on fire by unidentified persons in the district (Photo: PTI)

The 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.

Meanwhile, the man who saved her life after she was abducted and set ablaze, recounted how she knocked on his door with cries of “save me, save me".

Dukshishyam Senapati, a resident of Balanga village, told the police that he could not believe his eyes when he opened the door after hearing the knocks and the screams.

“The girl was on fire and screaming in pain," Senapati told DGP YB Khurania, who visited the spot.

The DGP and his team were recreating the sequence of events that unfolded in the nondescript village on the morning of July 19.

“It was around 8.30 am when the girl knocked on my door, screaming," Senapati said.

“With the help of my wife, I doused the fire and gave her water as she was very thirsty. Later, the women of my family changed her clothes," he added.

Senapati said he learnt that three unknown men had set her on fire after the girl told him so, as he had asked her about what had happened.

“She said she was walking back home after meeting a friend when she was picked up by three men who arrived on motorcycles," Senapati told the police.

“The faces of the three men were half-covered, and they took her to a place near the Bhargavi riverbank. She could not tell their names. She could only say that they covered her face with a handkerchief and poured some substance before setting her on fire," he said.

“I did not insist much because she was trembling," he told the DGP.

Senapati said the girl had told him that the accused had tied her hands when they abducted her.

“But, when she reached my place, her hands were free," he said.

The local also said that the survivor told him the name of her father and the village where she came from, following which he contacted her family.

“I could not speak much to her as a large number of people assembled at our house," he said.

Senapati said he also ran out of his house to look for the men involved in the crime, but could not find them.

“The girl told me that they escaped immediately after setting her on fire. The attackers might have thought that she would die on the spot, but the brave girl ran away and reached our house," he said.

He also told the DGP that the ambulance arrived at his house late, forcing him to find an auto rickshaw to take the girl to the hospital.

“The ambulance came at the same time when we were taking her to the auto rickshaw. The girl stayed around 90 minutes at our place," he said.

Senapati said the incident triggered panic in the village.

“Our children are hesitant to go outside alone. We demand immediate arrest of the culprits," he added.

Before being airlifted, the girl, with 70 per cent burns, was on oxygen support in the ICU at the Department of Burn Centre at AIIMS Bhubaneswar.

The patient was taken to Delhi after AIIMS Bhubaneswar Executive Director Ashutosh Biswas told reporters that the patient’s condition was stable, her blood pressure improved, and it was safe to transfer her.

As the victim was able to speak, the police recorded her statement on Saturday, in the presence of a magistrate at the ICU, adding that her statement is vital for the investigation.

News agency PTI quoted sources and said that the police, during the last 36 hours, had interrogated at least 10 people, including some women and the victim’s family members.

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.

The miscreants fled the spot after the incident, police said.

Local people doused the fire and took her to Pipili government hospital, from where she was taken to AIIMS Bhubaneswar and on Sunday, to AIIMS, Delhi.

Vani Mehrotra

Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.

Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.

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