GM University Professor Held for Exploiting Student on False Marriage Promise

Sambalpur: In a disturbing incident from Odisha’s Sambalpur district, an assistant professor of Gangadhar Meher (GM) University has been arrested for allegedly engaging in a physical relationship with a student under the false pretext of marriage.

The accused, identified as Gopikant Suna (32), is an assistant professor in the Department of Education at GM University. He hails from Dahita village under Buden police limits of Bargarh district and was residing in official quarters at Professor Colony in the Budharaja area of Sambalpur city.

According to the police, a 20-year-old second-year integrated B.Ed student of the university filed a complaint stating that Suna had promised to marry her but later refused to fulfill the commitment after a physical relationship had developed between them.

Acting on the complaint, police arrested Suna and produced him before a local court on Thursday. Further investigation is underway.

This incident comes amid heightened public outrage in Odisha following the tragic death of another B.Ed student from Fakir Mohan Autonomous College in Balasore. The 20-year-old student, Soumyashree Bisi, reportedly attempted self-immolation on July 12, alleging months of sexual harassment by the Head of the Education Department. Despite lodging complaints with college authorities and police, her pleas allegedly went unheard. She succumbed to her injuries at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar on July 14.

The back-to-back cases have sparked a wave of concern over the safety of female students in educational institutions across the state, prompting calls for stricter action against sexual harassment and institutional apathy.