3 min readBhubaneswarFeb 18, 2025 04:35 PM IST
First published on: Feb 18, 2025 at 03:50 PM IST
Under fire for its handling of the situation, the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University in Odisha, where a 20-year-old engineering student from Nepal died by suicide on Saturday, has terminated the services of two security staff. It has also suspended two hostel officials and an administrative officer of the International Relations Office (IRO), where the woman had complained about “misbehaviour” from her batchmate, a 21-year-old from Lucknow who has been arrested.
This comes after the Odisha government took a strong note of the “physical assault and racial behaviour” by the staff of the university against students from Nepal who had been protesting against the suicide.
The university had evicted over 500 students from Nepal from the campus but backtracked on its decision when the Nepal embassy and Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli got involved. According to a senior Odisha government official, the state government is expected to seek an explanation from KIIT authorities on action taken against women staff of the university who allegedly made offensive remarks against the agitating student, a purported video of which has gone viral.
In the video, the two women staff members are purportedly heard saying that the amount spent by the founder of the university for free education of 40,000 underprivileged students was more than the annual budget of Nepal. Several other videos have also resurfaced that purportedly show security personnel roughing up protesting students.
“The incident has hit the state’s reputation. The government has taken cognizance of the matter and will ask KIIT authorities to act against all officials,” a senior government official told The Indian Express.
Before the government could issue a formal statement, however, the university acted against the staff members.
Police sources said they have detained two security staff members for allegedly assaulting protesting students.
The post-mortem of the victim is being conducted at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, following which the body will be handed over to her parents, who have landed in the state.
“We sent our daughter for higher education but this unfortunate incident happened here. We have full faith in the state government and police administration that they will give justice to our daughter. I just hope such things do not happen to anyone else in the future,” her father said.
Meanwhile, two Nepal embassy officials are also reaching Bhubaneswar to discuss the issue with the local administration, police and agitating students.
The university had evicted over 500 students from Nepal from the campus but backtracked on its decision when the Nepal embassy and Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli got involved. (Express File Photo) 
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