'Beaten' By Student, Odisha Lecturer Dies After 8 Month-Long Battle

An Odisha lecturer, who was allegedly beaten up by one of his students in February this year, has succumbed to his injuries after an eight-month-long battle at a hospital, his family members said on Wednesday.

Amit Barik, was serving as a lecturer of PKSS Degree College in the Katapalli area in Jharsuguda district while the accused is a degree student of the same college.

"The accused student used to regularly come late to the class. On February 22, when he had come late to the class, Amit Barik had asked the student to meet the principal before entering the class. This led to an argument between them, during which the enraged student hit the teacher with bare hands in front of the whole class," said Anirush Barik, a family member of the lecturer.

"In that incident, Amit Barik sustained serious injuries in his head. He was first admitted to the Jharsuguda district headquarters hospital and then shifted to VIMSAR, Burla, where he succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday night," he said, adding the lecturer's marriage had been fixed before the incident took place.

After getting information, the local police arrested the accused student on the same day of the incident and produced him before the court. He is currently on bail, Jharsuguda Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Nirmal Mohapatra said.

"Today, we got information that the lecturer died while under treatment. Now, we will approach the court to turn the case from 307 (attempt to murder) to 302 (murder) of IPC. As per the direction of the court, further action will be taken," he added.

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