c++ static string object crashes in release mode

Question

I am attaching the minimal code below. The problem is with static string object that is leaking memory. I think the problem is with the string object not being initialized properly. The program runs fine in Debug mode but crashes in the Release mode.

I am using Windows 7 : 64bit - MS Visual Studio 2012

I have tried initializing the object with empty string but it did not solve the problem as suggested here what to do if debug runs fine, but release crashes

I enabled "Treating warnings as Errors" also did not help as there are no warning as suggested by the following post what to do if debug runs fine, but release crashes

There were some other suggestions too like "static initialization order fiasco" but I do not think its related to my issue.

Any help is appreciated

main.cpp

//main.cpp
#include "MyParameters.h"

using namespace std ;

int main( int argc, char *argv[] )
{
  try
  { 
        cout << "MyParameters::m_outputDir: " << MyParameters::m_outputDir << endl ;

        bool initialized = MyParameters::initialize( "myimo.xml" ) ;                

        cout << "MyParameters::m_outputDir: " << MyParameters::m_outputDir << endl ;
        cout << "Terminating the application..." << endl ;

  }
  catch ( std::exception &e )
  {
    cout << e.what() << std::endl;
  }
}

MyParameters.h

//MyParameters.h
#ifndef __MY_PARAMETERS_H
#define __MY_PARAMETERS_H

#include <string>
#include <iostream>

 #include <QString>

class MyParameters 
{

public:

  static std::string m_outputDir; ///< output directory

  static bool initialize( const QString &xmlFile  );

private:

  MyParameters();
};

#endif /* __MY_PARAMETERS_H */

MyParameters.cpp

//MyParameters.cpp
#include "MyParameters.h"
#include <QDir>

std::string MyParameters::m_outputDir ;    

using namespace std ;

MyParameters::MyParameters()
{

}

bool MyParameters::initialize( const QString &xmlFile )
{
  m_outputDir = QDir::current().absoluteFilePath( xmlFile ).toStdString(); // --> this crashes 
    //m_outputDir = "C:\\Dev\\" ; // --> works fine
    cout << "m_outputDir: " << m_outputDir << endl ;

    cout << "myparameters.xml file reading is complete" << endl ;
  return true;
}