Nepalese Student Found Dead In Hostel In Odisha, Protest Erupts At KIIT Campus – News18

Last Updated:February 17, 2025, 18:23 IST

A third-year B-Tech student at KIIT from Nepal, allegedly died by suicide. Nepali students protested, prompting police intervention.

A third-year B-Tech student of a private engineering institute here died allegedly by suicide in her hostel leading to tension in the campus, police said on Monday, as reported by PTI. The deceased was identified as Prakriti Lamsal from Nepal. She was a B-Tech third-year student of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), varsity Registrar said.

The deceased’s cousin lodged a complaint at Infocity police station in Bhubaneswar alleging that his sister hanged herself in her hostel room on Sunday. He suspected that another male student of the varsity was blackmailing his sister for which she committed suicide.

KIIT in a statement said: “A Nepali student studying in the third year of B-Tech committed suicide in the hostel yesterday. It is suspected that the student was in a love affair with another student studying at KIIT. It is suspected that the student may have committed suicide due to some reason.” The KIIT said that the incident was immediately reported to the police.

Bhubaneswar DCP Pinak Mishra said: “We have registered a case at Infocity Police Station based on the allegation that a male student abated her suicide. The accused student is in police custody and subjected to interrogation. The police have seized the mobile phone, laptop and other gadgets of the deceased woman. We are undertaking a scientific investigation into the matter.” The DCP appealed to the students not to take the law into their own hands and to maintain peace.

According to the PTI report, a large group of Nepali students gathered on the KIIT campus Sunday night, holding a protest to demand justice. Amid mild tension among the Nepali students following the girl’s death, university authorities engaged in discussions with the protesting foreign students.

“Keeping in view the situation, the Nepal students have been sent to their respective homes. The situation presently remained calm,” the KIIT said.

Two platoons of police force were deployed to maintain law and order situation on the campus.

Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP) Prakash Chandra Pal said that the police were maintaining law and order both inside and outside the campus.

“The police have sealed the deceased girl’s room and kept the body at the mortuary till the arrival of her parents,” a varsity official said.

Two busloads of Nepali students were dropped at the Cuttack Railway Station on Monday. “We were told to vacate hostel room and dropped at the railway station. We had to appear for examination on February 28…” a male student told reporters at the Cuttack railway station.

In the meantime, students from other states claimed that private security guards at the university prevented them from leaving the hostel.

A video showing a scuffle between students and the private security guards went viral on social media, although PTI could not verify its authenticity.

KIIT authorities declined to comment on the students’ allegations that they were not permitted to leave the hostel.