The life cut short at Odisha’s KIIT – introvert who shared ordeal with few, hoped to make parents proud one day

The incident cut short a life that promised much – according to friends and family; Prakriti excelled in school and wanted to pursue a career in the IT industry to make her parents proud. On the personal front, they described her as an introvert who would not open up easily.

“We were speechless,” said her father, Sunil Lamsal, while waiting outside the AIIMS, Bhubaneswar morgue, where her post-mortem was conducted.

“She called her mother at 2:51 pm on Sunday and was absolutely normal then. She said she is going to attend the fest and may not be able to take a call for some time because of network issues… Between 5 pm and 5:30 pm on Sunday, we got a call from the university authorities…,” said Lamsal, who has a business in the food processing sector.

Lamsal recalled him and Prakriti attending a conference organised by KIIT in Kathmandu in 2022 to draw students from Nepal.

“They told us about the scope and facilities provided by the college, because of which we decided to send our daughter for admission. She is gone, but this shouldn’t happen with any other student. Students from far-off areas come here to study,” he said.

Members of Navnirman Yuva Chatra Sangh (NYCS) with other students stage a protest over the death of a Nepali student at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) campus, in Bhubaneswar, Tuesday. (PTI Photo)

According to the university website, KIIT offers education to around 40,000 students from across India and 2,000 international students from 65 countries. Around 40% of international students are from Nepal.

Prakriti and her cousin Anurodh secured admission in the computer science department, while another cousin, Siddhant, got admission into the mechanical engineering branch in the 2022-23 academic year.

According to the family, Prakriti flagged misbehaviour from the accused – a 21-year-old student from Lucknow who has been arrested – to the university but they did not act on it. The university claims the two were counselled and let go. During the initial protests by students from Nepal following her death, the university had claimed the two were in a relationship.

Nishan Kanel, who accompanied Sunil Lamsal to Bhubaneswar, said Prakriti was an introvert since childhood. “My daughter and Prakriti were close friends. Though she had told my daughter, who is in Canada, about the harassment, she requested her not to tell anyone, fearing embarrassment. I came to know of this only after she died by suicide,” Nishan told The Indian Express.

Students during the protest over the death of a Nepali student at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), in Bhubaneswar, Tuesday (PTI Photo)

He said Prakriti was a “brilliant student” who “dreamt of a prosperous career in the IT industry and to make her parents proud”.

One of her batchmates said, “She was sincere and hardly missed classes. We met frequently but never really knew what she was going through.”

Members of the Navnirman Krushak Sangathan (NKS) take out a candlelight march in protest over the death of a Nepali student at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) campus, in Bhubaneswar, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (PTI Photo)

Prakriti’s cousin Siddhant Sigdel, who lodged the police complaint, said though he was not able to interact with her regularly as he is from a different branch, he got updates from Anurodh.

“Anurodh and I are roommates. I used to ask Anurodh about her as they frequently met in the laboratory and classrooms. Both of us had no idea about the mental harassment she was facing,” Siddhant told The Indian Express.

He told police the accused was blackmailing her based on what he was told by close friends.