Balasore: Two student leaders who recorded a video of a 20-year-old woman setting herself on fire at a college in Odisha's Balasore district were arrested on Monday on abetment of suicide charges, police said.

The accused were identified as Subhra Sambait Nayak and Jyoti Prakash Biswal, a student of Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College where the woman was studying.

Biswal was initially hailed for attempting to save the woman after she set herself ablaze on July 12 alleging inaction on her sexual harassment complaint against a professor. He had also suffered burn injuries while trying to douse the flames.

The duo was arrested on Sunday night and booked under BNS sections 108 (abetment of suicide) and 61(2)(a) (criminal conspiracy), police said.

They reportedly knew about the woman's plan and filmed the act, which later went viral on social media, an officer of the Crime Branch added.

Biswal was recently discharged from SCB Medical College and Hospital after treatment. The state government had earlier praised him for his “heroic” attempt to save the woman.

“Initially, it was believed that Biswal tried to rescue the woman. But during investigation it emerged that he was aware of her plan and recorded the self-immolation attempt. He sustained burn injuries in the process,” the officer said.

Both accused were produced before a court and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.

The woman, who suffered 95 per cent burns, died on July 14 while undergoing treatment at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar.

She allegedly poured petrol on herself claiming college authorities were not taking action against the head of the department (HoD) of the integrated B.Ed course who had allegedly sought sexual favours from her.

Earlier, the HoD, Samira Kumar Sahoo, and college principal Dillip Ghose were arrested on abetment of suicide charges. With the latest arrests, four persons are now in custody.

Following the arrests, the opposition BJD claimed the woman had been forced to take the drastic step by members of the ABVP.

“This is evident from the arrest of Subhra Sambait Nayak, who is state joint secretary of ABVP,” BJD MLA Goutam Buddha Das told reporters.

BJD students' wing leader Ipsita Sahoo alleged Biswal, the “so-called saviour”, also belonged to the ABVP and claimed the woman was a victim of a conspiracy.

The ABVP was not immediately available for comment.