KIIT Student Suicide: Police Arrest 21-Year-Old From Lucknow, Security Deployed At Campus Amid Protests – News18

Last Updated:February 18, 2025, 10:37 IST

KIIT Student Suicide Case: Police have arrested a KIIT student for allegedly harassing a Nepalese classmate, leading to her suicide.

The Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police have arrested a student from KIIT University in connection with the alleged suicide of a third-year B.Tech student from Nepal. The student was found dead on Sunday. The incident sparked protests by students and members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Monday, who demanded justice.

Police Commissioner Suresh Dev Datta Singh said the authorities were informed about the incident and immediately registered a case.

“We received information about the incident of suicide by a girl student of a third-year Computer Science in KIIT University. On this information, a case was registered. There was an allegation that this girl who belonged to Nepal was harassed by one student of KIIT University in third year Mechanical engineering. We investigated the matter, and we got prima facie evidence that there was some sort of harassment which could have prompted the girl to die by suicide, so we arrested the accused person; we examined him, and today, he has been forwarded to judicial custody,” said the Commissioner on Monday evening.

He further added that the police have seized the victim’s personal belongings, including her mobile phone, which will be sent for forensic examination.

“We have seized some personal belongings like a mobile from the girl, and it will be first sent to the forensic science laboratory and then it will be analyzed to gather further evidence in this case,” he added.

Meanwhile, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli addressed the incident, saying that his government is following up on the case with Indian authorities through diplomatic channels. “It has come to our attention through media and social media that a Nepali student has died in the hostel of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University in Odisha, India, and that Nepali students have been forcibly evicted from the hostel,” Oli said in a Facebook post.

He also posted on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “Our Embassy in New Delhi has dispatched two officers to counsel Nepali students affected in Odisha. Additionally, arrangements have been made to ensure they have the option to either remain in their hostel or return home, based on their preference.”

The victim, a third-year B.Tech student from Nepal, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in her hostel room on the evening of February 15. On February 16, her cousin filed a complaint with the Infocity police station, alleging that the girl had been blackmailed by a male student, which drove her to take her life. The police registered a case under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Following the incident, several Nepali students staged protests demanding the arrest of the accused student, who they claim harassed the victim.

On Monday evening, KIIT University released a statement asking Nepali students who had left or were planning to leave to return and resume their classes. “There was an unfortunate incident which took place late in the evening yesterday on the KIIT campus. Immediately after the incident, police investigated the matter and apprehended the culprit. The KIIT administration has taken all-out efforts to restore normalcy in the campus and hostels to resume the academic activities,” the statement read.

Before this, the university reportedly issued a notice announcing that the campus was “closed sine die for all international students from Nepal” and instructed them to vacate the premises. This caused distress among Nepali students, as many said they did not have tickets to go home. Some were also worried about their upcoming exams scheduled for the last week of February.