BHUBANESWAR: An uproar at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) over a 20-year-old Nepalese BTech student dying by suicide in her hostel room after being allegedly harassed on campus threatened to escalate into a diplomatic row on Monday, with Nepal’s PM K P Sharma Oli claiming “forced eviction” of his country’s protesting students and requesting Delhi to resolve the matter.
A 21-year-old student from UP’s Lucknow was arrested on charges of repeated harassment, causing the third-year girl to take her life the previous evening. This was after several complaints to the authorities against the suspect allegedly went unheard, the girl’s cousin said in a complaint at Bhubaneswar’s Infocity police station.
“It has come to our attention through media and social media that a Nepali student has died in the hostel…and that Nepali students have been forcibly evicted from the hostel. The govt is working on this matter through diplomatic channels and is in contact with the relevant authorities,” PM Oli wrote on his Facebook page.
He posted another message on his X handle later, saying the Nepal embassy had deputed a pair of officers to Bhubaneswar to counsel the affected Nepalese students. “Additionally, arrangements were made to ensure they have the option to either remain in their hostel or return home, based on their preference.”
The Odisha govt instructed the KIIT authorities soon after to allow Nepalese students back into the campus. “All-out efforts have been made to restore normalcy in the campus and hostels to resume academic activities. An appeal is made to all our Nepali students who have or plan to leave the campus to return,” the institute said.
Earlier in the day, scores of Nepalese students staged demonstrations against the deemed-to-be university’s alleged refusal to act on harassment complaints by the deceased, which the authorities contested.
After videos of clashes between the campus guards and protesting students went viral on social media, KIIT was closed “sine die” for all international students from Nepal. “They are hereby directed to vacate the university campus immediately,” the authorities announced.
PTI quoted a Nepalese student from KIIT as saying at Cuttack railway station that everything happened too fast. “We were told to vacate our hostel rooms and dropped at the railway station. We have an exam scheduled for Feb 28.”
Odisha higher education minister Suryabanshi Suraj said CM Mohan Charan Majhi had asked the authorities “to treat the matter with utmost seriousness”, given India’s “positive relationship” with Nepal. “KIIT should not have evicted the Nepali students,” he told reporters.