A BTech third-student from Nepal studying at Odisha’s Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) was found dead on campus. As per the authorities, she allegedly committed suicide. Her death sparked tension in the campus with several students protesting against the college authorities. The deceased was identified as Prakriti Lamsal, her 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.
Police takes a male student into custody
Following the complaint by the cousin, accused male student was taken into the custody for interrogation. 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.”
College suspects love affair
Confirming the death of student on campus and terming it ‘suicide’, KIIT in its statement suspected that the deceased student was in a love affair with another student of the college and this could be the reason behind her suicide. “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,” KIIT said.
KIIT asked Nepalese students to vacate hostel
As per the students, college authorities asked the Nepalese students to vacate the hostel and two buses full of students from Nepal were sent to Cuttack Railway Station on Monday. KIIT confirmed the update and said, “keeping in view the situation, the Nepal students have been sent to their respective homes. The situation presently remained calm.” Since there was mild tension among the Nepali students studying at KIIT over the girl’s death, the university authorities had a discussion with the agitating foreign students.
“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.
Students demand justice
Many students from Nepal assembled on the KIIT campus on Sunday night and staged demonstration demanding justice. The DCP appealed to the students not to take the law into their own hands and to maintain peace. 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.
(With inputs from agencies)