‘What Was Our Fault’: Nepali Students Fear Returning To KIIT After Student’s Death – News18

Last Updated:February 19, 2025, 13:49 IST

Nepalese students are afraid to return to KIIT after protests over a student’s alleged suicide resulted in their forced eviction and alleged mistreatment.

Nepalese students on Wednesday expressed fear about returning to the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) campus here after the events that unfolded following the alleged suicide of a 20-year-old student from the Himalayan nation.

Around 1,000 Nepalese students studying at KIIT were issued suspension notices and asked to leave the campus immediately on Monday after protests erupted following the discovery of a student, Prakriti Lamsal, found hanging from the ceiling of her hostel room on Sunday.

However, following the intervention of the central and state governments, KIIT authorities tendered an apology and requested the Nepalese students to return to the campus.

Despite this, the harrowing experiences faced by the Nepalese students, including being forced off the campus, left at Cuttack railway station, and alleged incidents of being roughed up, have left them traumatised, making many reluctant to return, the students said.

“We were forced to vacate the hostel without any fault of ours. The students from Nepal were agitated over the death of Prakriti as her previous pleadings with the authorities (over alleged blackmail by her former boyfriend) were ignored. She died by suicide out of frustration,” Preeti, a student from Nepal, told reporters.

Narrating the distressing experience on Monday, Preeti said, “We were forcibly taken on a bus and dropped at a place near the railway station where there was no shop or water. What was our fault? Now they (dean and other officials of KIIT) are affectionately asking us to return. Can anyone believe them?”

Five KIIT employees, including directors of the institute, were arrested on Tuesday for harassing the Nepalese students, but the Judicial Magistrate First Class-2 court later in the evening granted them bail.

A 21-year-old KIIT student had earlier been arrested on charges of abetting the woman’s suicide.

Sources said the body of the deceased will be flown to Nepal during the day. Her father, Sunil Lamsal, and other family members have been in the city for the past two days.

Odisha’s Higher Education Minister, Suryabanshi Suraj, earlier stated that 100 Nepalese students are currently on campus, while nearly 800 are in other locations.

“They might have gone to Kolkata, Patna or Ranchi. It is the responsibility of the KIIT authorities to bring them back. They are our guests,” the minister said.

Sources indicated that most Nepalese students have returned to their homes in the Himalayan nation. However, neither the state government nor KIIT authorities have shared information on how many students have returned to the campus so far.

On Tuesday, the Odisha government released an action taken report regarding the alleged crackdown on students following the unnatural death of the student.

A high-level committee, headed by the additional chief secretary (home), has been formed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the alleged suicide and the removal of Nepalese students from the campus by university authorities.

Meanwhile, several students, youth organisations, and political groups continued their agitation outside the campus in response to the incident.

Taking to X, KIIT stated, “Deeply mourning the untimely passing of our beloved student, Prakriti Lamsal. Today, all senior functionaries of KIIT gathered to express our heartfelt condolences and stand in solidarity with her family, friends, and the student community. We are committed to ensuring justice and support for all. May her soul rest in peace.”

(With inputs from PTI)