A tragic incident at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in Bhubaneswar has led to protests and diplomatic concerns after a Nepali student allegedly died by suicide.

Prakriti Lamsal, a 20-year-old student from Nepal, was studying in her third year of BTech at KIIT. On February 16, she was found dead in her hostel room. Reports say that another student, 21-year-old Advik Srivastava from Lucknow, had been harassing and blackmailing her. This has made people question how safe students are at the university and whether the college takes harassment complaints seriously.

After her death, more than 500 Nepali students at KIIT started protesting. They said that the university did not do enough to protect Lamsal. The situation became worse when the university tried to remove the Nepali students from the campus. This led to the Nepalese government and Indian authorities getting involved to handle the issue.

Allegations against the accused

Lamsal’s cousin, Siddhant Sigdel, went to the police and filed a complaint (FIR) against Advik Srivastava. He said that Srivastava kept harassing Lamsal, which may have led her to take her own life.

Earlier, Lamsal had complained about Srivastava’s behaviour to the university’s International Relations Office (IRO). However, the university only gave him a warning instead of taking strong action. Some people on social media claimed that Srivastava was blackmailing Lamsal. An audio clip also became viral online, where a male voice was allegedly heard abusing and harassing a female.

On February 16, the same day Lamsal died, the police caught Advik Srivastava at Biju Patnaik International Airport. Reports say he was trying to leave the city. A flight ticket with his name on it for a trip from Bhubaneswar to Kolkata was shared online. This made people think that he was trying to escape after Lamsal’s death.

Now, Srivastava has been arrested. He has been charged under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for encouraging suicide. The police have also taken Lamsal’s phone and laptop to check for evidence and investigate if she was being blackmailed.

Students’ protest and university’s response

Lamsal's death caused a strong reaction from Nepali students at KIIT. They protested on campus, blocked roads, and asked for justice. The students said the university ignored Lamsal's complaints and didn't take the right steps.

Videos on social media showed fights between students and the university security guards. To handle the protests, the university told Nepali students to leave the campus by February 17. The students said they were forced onto buses and dropped at Cuttack railway station, which is about 30 kilometres away, without any travel plans. Some students didn’t have train tickets, and others had exams on February 28.

Adding to the controversy, reports surfaced about university officials making racially insensitive remarks during the protests. One official allegedly compared KIIT’s spending on Nepali students to Nepal’s national budget, a comment that was reportedly caught on video.

Nepali Prime Minister's intervention

The forced eviction of Nepali students turned into a diplomatic issue when Nepal’s Prime Minister, KP Sharma Oli, publicly expressed concern. He posted on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), accusing KIIT of mistreating Nepali students and urging the Indian government to take action.

The Nepalese Embassy in New Delhi immediately sent officials to Bhubaneswar to counsel students and ensure their safety. Due to growing diplomatic pressure and backlash, the Odisha government intervened and ordered KIIT to reverse its decision. The university later issued a statement allowing Nepali students to return and promised that normal academic activities would resume.

The Nepalese Embassy assured students that they could choose to stay in their hostels or return home. Odisha’s Higher Education Minister, Suryabanshi Suraj, also acknowledged that KIIT should not have evicted students and assured that authorities were taking the case seriously.

Case investigation

The police continue to investigate the case, analysing Lamsal’s phone and laptop to verify blackmail claims. Meanwhile, KIIT has maintained that Lamsal and Srivastava were in a relationship and suggested that her death was due to a personal dispute. However, this claim has been strongly denied by protesting students and Lamsal’s family.

This case has raised important questions about the university’s handling of harassment complaints, the safety of international students, and the role of institutions in preventing such incidents. The outcome of the police investigation and any legal actions against Srivastava and the university authorities will determine the next steps in this case.

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