How a Nepali student's suicide at Odisha university threatened to spiral into a diplomatic fallout
The Indian Embassy in Nepal said ‘reports of misconduct against students are being investigated and those responsible will be held accountable as per the law’.
The alleged suicide of a 20-year-old Nepali student at Odisha's Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University threatens to blow up into a diplomatic fallout as Kathmandu said on Wednesday that it may stop issuing NOCs to its students to study in India if the case if not resolved in a “justifiable and legal way”.
Death and protests
The deceased, a third-year B.Tech computer science student, allegedly died by suicide due to physical and verbal abuse by a 21-year-old mechanical engineering student from the same institute.
Reports that the college staff forced protesting Nepali students to evacuate the campus without prior information caught the attention of Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. His government dispatched diplomatic officials from Nepal's embassy in Delhi to assist the concerned students and coordinate with the local administration.
Soon, the KIIT administration termed the incident “unfortunate” and said the police apprehended the accused. The management also appealed to protesting Nepali students to return to their campus and resume attending classes.
A viral audio clip and father's plea
Around 100 students who continue to protest allege that the university ignored the victim's plea for intervention. An audio clip went viral on social media in which the accused could be purportedly heard abusing and making derogatory comments about the victim and her mother. HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the clip.
Sunil Lamsal, the deceased's father, told ANI that he believes his daughter was “harassed and emotionally blackmailed.”
“We just know that an investigation is being done. The post-mortem report will come soon. We have the information that she was harassed and emotionally blackmailed, due to which she committed suicide,” the father said.
How did KIIT staff react?
Nepali students alleged that the university staff misbehaved with them, and the security personnel also manhandled them. A heated exchange between students and staff members went viral on social media, adding to the tense atmosphere. A staff member claimed that the university provides free meals to 40,000 students, which is more than Nepal’s GDP, and another said that KIIT’s spending on students was bigger than Nepal’s national budget.
On Tuesday, the management apologised for its staff’s behaviour toward Nepali students. To defuse tensions, it also suspended three employees and removed two security personnel. A senior administrative officer, who allegedly did not take any action against the accused after a complaint by the deceased five weeks ago, was among those suspended.
Police arrests in the case
A criminal case was registered against the accused, the son of a BJP leader in Lucknow, for abetment to suicide, and he was sent to 14 days of judicial custody. KIIT University director general Shibananda Mishra, director (administration) Pratap Kumar Champati, hostel director Sudhir Kumar Rath and two security personnel were granted bail by a local court on Tuesday.
Two cases have been registered over the incident. One is based on a complaint from the deceased girl's cousin. The second was initiated by the police following viral videos of security personnel assaulting students.
Echoes in Nepal Parliament, Odisha assembly
Nepal MPs, including Shishir Khanal, Bina Lama, Sita Mijar, Sher Bahadur Kunwar and Shanti Bika, raised the issue related to the KIIT incident in the House of Representatives during zero hour on Tuesday.
They asked the Nepal government to initiate diplomatic efforts to ensure a serious inquiry into the mysterious death of the girl student and resolve the problems related to other Nepalese students studying in the KIIT.
In the Odisha assembly, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief whip Pratap Deb blamed the state's BJP government for deteriorating law and order.
BJP lawmaker Tankadhar Tripathy hit back, accusing the BJD of promoting KIIT founder, an ex-MP from the former ruling party.
The state government formed a high-level committee, headed by additional chief secretary of home Satyabrata Sahu, and comprising secretary of women and child development Shubha Sarma and secretary of higher education Aravind Agrawal, to probe into reports of misconduct against students in KIIT on February 16 evening and February 17.
The Indian Embassy in Nepal, meanwhile, said it is following up with the government of Odisha. “Appropriate legal and administrative action shall be taken based on the findings of the High Level Committee. Reports of misconduct against students are also being investigated and those responsible will be held accountable as per the law,” it said.
(With agency inputs)