Indore: Congress attacks home minister Narottam Mishra, as college principal set afire remains critical

Indore: The principal of a city-based pharmacy college who was set afire by a former student over a marksheet dispute continues to battle for her life, a hospital official said on Wednesday evening.

Dr Vimukta Sharma (54), principal of the private-run BM College of Pharmacy, suffered around 80 per cent burns in the Monday's incident and has been put on life support system, an official of Choithram Hospital told PTI.

"Despite all the efforts by the doctors, Sharma's condition has not shown any significant improvement so far," the official said.

Opposition Congress, meanwhile, attacked the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh over the incident. Congress leader and former state home minister Bala Bachchan said it showed that the police commissioner system in Indore had completely failed.

Indore district is under the charge of the state's current Home Minister Narottam Mishra who has abdicated his responsibility to protect people, Bachchan said.

Ashutosh Srivastava, a former student of the college, allegedly poured petrol on Sharma and set her afire on February 20.

Srivastava was arrested and booked under IPC section 307 (attempt to murder).

During interrogation, he allegedly told police that he had done his B Pharma from the institute in July 2022 but despite many requests, the college management was not giving him his marksheet.

Srivastava had allegedly attacked a college professor with a knife around four months ago over the same issue.