Overview

• The 13-year-old Class 8 student was found half-burnt on a football field in Phiringimal village and later succumbed to severe burns at VIMSAR, Burla
• Bargarh SP Abilash G registered an unnatural death case after a family complaint and formed a three-member special team to investigate
• Investigators have recovered a video the victim recorded after the incident, plus a plastic bottle suspected to hold petrol and a matchbox from the scene
• This marks the fourth similar case within a month, following unexplained burn deaths in Balasore, Balanga and Kendrapara that remain inconclusive
• Opposition leaders including Naveen Patnaik have demanded judicial inquiries as forensic ambiguities and reports of delayed emergency response fuel public outrage