NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday hit out at the BJP after the Odisha college student, who set herself ablaze following alleged sexual harassment by a professor, died, with former party chief Rahul Gandhi saying the country wants answers and not Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “silence”.

Gandhi’s remarks came after the Odisha college student died at AIIMS in Bhubaneswar.

The second-year integrated B.Ed student of Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College, Balasore, died on Monday night after fighting for her life for three days.

She took the extreme step on Saturday over alleged inaction against the professor and suffered 95 per cent burns.

In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said the death of a daughter fighting for justice in Odisha is a “direct murder by the BJP system”.

“That brave student raised her voice against sexual exploitation – but instead of justice, she was threatened, harassed and humiliated repeatedly,” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

“Those who were supposed to protect her kept oppressing her,” Gandhi said.