Odisha govt summons 4 more KIIT officials in Nepalese student's suicide case

Bhubaneswar: Expediting its inquiry, the Odisha government summoned four more KIIT officials to depose before the high-level committee probing the alleged death by suicide of 20-year-old Nepalese BTech student Prakriti Lamsal and the subsequent unrest on the campus. The Higher Education Department summoned the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology's (KIIT) chief proctor PK Patnaik, Director Sanhita Mishra, Internal Committee chief Ipsita Satpathy and Assistant Director Smarika Pati. They were asked to appear before the panel headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Satyabrata Sahu on February 27, separate notifications said on Tuesday. Earlier, on February 21, KIIT founder Achyuta Samanta and seven other top officials of the varsity had appeared before the panel and recorded their statements.

They were asked why notices were issued only to Nepalese students to leave the hostel and why the institution failed to act on the harassment complaint filed by the deceased girl for over a month. Samanta and others were also questioned about the alleged racial abuses directed at the Nepalese students, an official said. The state government on February 18 constituted a high-level committee which has been mandated to ascertain the circumstances leading to the alleged suicide, alleged high-handed action by the varsity authorities, reasons for issuing notice only to a specific group (Nepalese) of students and closing the institute sine die for them and any other incidental matter that emerges during the inquiry. Sources said that the Odisha government was under pressure after the Ministry of External Affairs made it clear that India accords high priority to the safety, security, and well-being of all international students in the country. Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had also urged the Indian government to take appropriate action and deliver justice to the Nepalese students, including the suicide victim. Nepal also urged Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to ensure that all the KIIT teachers and staffers involved in the alleged harassment of Nepalese students be permanently terminated from the institute. The university has been witnessing unrest since February 16 after the body of the third-year computer science student was found hanging in her hostel room. When the students from Nepal protested, they were allegedly beaten up and forcibly evicted from the hostel.

Meanwhile, the activists of Congress's student wing NSUI on Tuesday held a demonstration near Utkal University and demanded stringent action against the KIIT authorities, who they alleged, got patronage of the previous BJD government. "We will spread the agitation to the rest of the state unless the accused KIIT officials are punished... they have brought a bad name to the state," NSUI state president Udit Narayan Pradhan said. Senior Congress MLA C S Raazen Ekka accused the state's BJP government of completely failing to handle the KIIT issue for which Odisha’s image has been tarnished across the world. He also criticised the chief minister for not making a public statement on this matter. The Congress also accused the state government of shielding the accused youth who has been arrested on the charge of abetting the woman's suicide. BJD MLA SP Jena alleged that the state government has failed to win the confidence of the Nepalese students and they are reluctant to return to KIIT despite the authorities tendering an apology. Congress MLA Ashok Das demanded action against the KIIT officials who were found in a viral video making insulting remarks against Nepal. However, BJP MLA Ashwini Sarangi said that the opposition parties were attempting to defame the Odisha government. He claimed that the state government would provide justice to the victims. The state CPI(M) also demanded action against the persons responsible for the violation of the human rights of Nepalese students. It submitted memoranda to the governor and the Commissioner of Police, seeking justice for the Nepalese students.