KIIT News: Bhubaneswar, (Reporterspen), Feb 19: The body of Prakriti Lamsal, a 20-year-old Nepali student who allegedly died by suicide at a KIIT University hostel, was handed over to her family after a post-mortem at AIIMS Bhubaneswar. Her family took the body to Nepal late on Tuesday for the final rites.
Prakriti, a third-year Computer Science student, reportedly took the extreme step after alleged harassment by Advik Srivastava, a third-year Mechanical Engineering student. The accused was arrested by the Commissionerate Police at Bhubaneswar airport on Monday evening.
Tension persisted outside the university campus as students staged a silent protest demanding justice for the bereaved family. Meanwhile, the Odisha government has constituted a fact-finding committee to investigate the circumstances of Prakriti’s death and the university’s decision to suspend students seeking justice.
The three-member panel, led by the Additional Chief Secretary (Home), includes secretaries from the Higher Education and Women and Child Development departments. The committee will also probe why KIIT authorities failed to inform the government about their actions against the protesting students.
In a related development, a local court granted bail to five KIIT employees, including senior officials and security guards, who were arrested for allegedly roughing up agitating students. The arrested individuals include KIIT Director General (HR) Sibananda Mishra, Director (Administration) Pratap Kumar Champaty, Hostel Director Sudhir Kumar Rath, and security guards Ramakanta Nayak and Jogendra Behera.
