Protest by Nepali Students: KIIT Suspends five Officials, Indian Government Assures High-Level Inquiry
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 18: As the alleged high-handed behaviour by some authorities of Odisha’s Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) with its Nepali students escalated into straining of relations between India and Nepal, the Indian Embassy in Nepal on Tuesday assured the Nepalese government of a thorough investigation into the alleged suicide of a Nepal woman student at the Bhubaneswar-based deemed University that provoked her compatriot students to lodge protests leading their alleged expulsion from the institute.
Prakriti Lamsal, a third-year B Tech student of the Bhubaneswar-based institute, allegedly committed suicide in her hostel room on Sunday. The incident triggered protests on the campus, where around 1,000 Nepali students study. Students shouted slogans, blocked roads and pushed through the gates of buildings. A male Indian student, who allegedly harassed the Nepali girl student leading to her suicide, has been taken into custody.
The students from Nepal took to both online and offline protests. Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) too joined them, demanding justice. The incident escalated into a diplomatic issue between India and Nepal.
A group of Nepalese students also staged a demonstration in front of the Indian embassy in Kathmandu with placards demanding a probe into the incident. The embassy said that KIIT has appealed to Nepali students to “return to the campus, resume their classes, and stay in the hostels.” “Nepali students studying in India form an important facet of the enduring people to people links between the two countries. The Government of India will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure the well-being of the Nepali students in India,” the statement read.
As the situation escalated on campus amid protests, KIIT authorities had allegedly evicted several Nepali students from the hostel and dropped them at Cuttack railway station without making any arrangements for their travel. The institute later clarified, “The administration made extensive efforts, engaging in counseling and discussions for over 10 hours to manage the situation peacefully. However, despite their best attempts, some protestors were unwilling to listen to the university authorities and continued to create disruptions, posing a challenge to law and order. They also blocked the main road for hours, causing inconvenience and escalating tensions.”
The university further added, “To ensure a smooth and unbiased investigation, Nepali students have been advised to return to their respective places with the help of local guardians until the inquiry is completed. Their academic aspects will not be disturbed during this period and will be taken care of by the university.” To maintain order on the campus, two platoons (each platoon consisting of 30 personnel) of police were deployed. Police also sealed the Ms Lamsal’s room and kept her body in the mortuary until her parents arrive.
Amid the growing tensions, a video showing two university staff members engaging in a heated exchange with the students protesting on campus is all over social media platforms adding more fuel to the fire. In the now-viral video, a professor, identified as Manjusha Pandey, can be heard saying to the students that the founder of the institution “feeds and educates 40,000 students for free”. Another staff member, identified as Jayanti Nath, added that the money spent on students was equivalent to Nepal’s national budget. Their xenophobic remarks further fuelled the already tense situation.
Following the backlash, KIIT suspended the staff members and issued an official apology to the students. The staffers also apologised, stating that their remarks were made in the “spur of the moment”.
KIIT, in its “letter of apology”, said: “We are extremely appalled by the untoward incident that took place in our campus on the evening of 16th February 2025. We are also regretful of the way some of us behaved with the agitating students. We love our students and had never done any disservice to them. The comments made by two of our officers are extremely irresponsible. Although the comments are made on their personal capacity on the spur of the moment, we do not support their action.”
“We have removed them from service. They too have apologised for their behaviour. We too apologise for all that has happened and hereby tender our love and affection to all students and people of Nepal,” the deemed-to-be university further added. The statement further urged students from Nepal to resume classes with immediate effect, stating that they “love them as much as they love the people of India and the people of the world”.
Pandey issued an apology for “hurting the sentiments of the students, brothers and sisters of Nepal.” In a video statement, she said, “I am making this video to apologise for the statements I said on 16th night in the spur of the moment. I want to communicate that whatever statements I had done, I said, are mine and have nothing to do with any of the authority of KIIT University. And if any of my statements has hurted the sentiment of my Nepali students, or people of Nepal, I apologise for it sincerely [sic].”
Ms Lamsal’s father alleged that the private engineering institute “mistreated” undergraduates from the neighbouring country. “I have lost my daughter. Many other children are studying here. It is known from the media that some students were driven out of their hostel. This is not right. This incident should not be repeated. These people go to Nepal and invite students to study here. The institute mistreated them,” Sunil Lamsal alleged.
State higher education minister Suryabanshi Suraj said the government has directed the university to bring back the Nepali students to Bhubaneswar by special bus.
KIIT also assured that academic losses of students would be taken care of by the institute. It set up a 24/7 control room at its campus 6 to assist Nepali students returning to the university. In a post on X, KIIT said, “A dedicated control room is open 24×7 at KIIT Campus 6 to facilitate the return of Nepali students to the KIIT campus. Additionally, a 24×7 helpline has been set up to provide support and guidance.”
Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, in a Facebook post, said, “It has come to our attention through media and social media that a Nepali student has died in the hostel of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University in Odisha, India, and that Nepali students have been forcibly evicted from the hostel.”
He also announced that Nepal’s Embassy in New Delhi had dispatched two officers to provide support to affected Nepali students in Odisha. He assured that arrangements were being made to allow students to either stay in their hostel or return home, depending on their preference.
The Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police have arrested the accused, 21-year-old Advik Srivastava from Lucknow. The victim, 20-year-old Prakriti Lamsal from Nepal, took her own life by hanging herself. A case has been registered under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
“We investigated the matter, and we got prima facie evidence that there was some sort of harassment which could have prompted the girl to die by suicide, so we arrested the accused person; we examined him, and today, he has been forwarded to judicial custody,” said Police Commissioner Suresh Dev Datta Singh on Tuesday. He further added that the police have seized the victim’s personal belongings, including her mobile phone, which will be sent for forensic examination.
Under fire for its handling of the situation, the KIIT has terminated the services of two security staff besides suspending its two hostel officials and an administrative officer of the International Relations Office (IRO) where the woman had complained about “misbehaviour” from her batchmate Advik Srivastava who has since 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 the Nepalese Prime Minister got involved. According to a senior Odisha government official, the state government was 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.
“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 said. 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.
