NHRC accuses KIIT university of abetting suicide of Nepalese girl
The NHRC has also asked the Odisha chief secretary to submit an action taken report within the next four weeks.
More than a month after a 20-year-old computer science girl student from Nepal was found hanging in her hostel room in Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) held the varsity responsible for the sequence of events that led her to kill herself.
The student was found dead on February 16 several months after she accused her classmate, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering student from Lucknow, of blackmailing her.
The accused Advik Shrivastava, a third-year B.Tech student, was arrested by Bhubaneswar police at the city airport when he was trying to flee. The incident became a diplomatic issue with India’s neighbouring country as university authorities expelled more than 1,000 Nepali students, along with two teachers who hurled racial abuses at students who protested against the alleged apathy by university authorities in addressing the deceased student’s complaints.
The NHRC earlier this month, following a complaint by a Bhubaneswar-based person, inquired into the suicide and the subsequent harassment of Nepalese students by the university, and said in its report that the victim was sexually harassed by the accused and subsequent non-action by the International Relations Office of the university led to her suicide as it violated the her right to equality and right to live with dignity. It is a clear violation of the rights under Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution, the human rights body said.
“The victim in her complaint on March 12, 2024, to KIIT’s International Relations Office had written about the sexual harassment while detailing her mental state during the days. As per the statements of the university registrar and IRO officials, after receiving the complaint, they further referred/informed disciplinary committee officials. The committee officials directed Advik Shrivastava to delete all nude photographs of the victim, but did not take necessary, mandatory steps and disposed of the matter in a very casual manner. The IRO office and disciplinary committee got undertakings from the victim and the alleged accused rather than informing or referring to this complaint to the Internal Complaints Committee formed under the POSH Act or the local police station,” the NHRC report stated.
“The victim was sexually harassed by the accused and subsequent non-action by the university IRO violated the deceased’s right to equality and right to live with dignity. Each such incident results in violation of the fundamental rights of Gender Equality and the Right of Life and Liberty. The conduct of the IRO and university officers/ disciplinary committee and college authorities shows that there is gross negligence and omission on their part IRO and University authorities which may be treated amount to act of abetment to commit suicide on the part of the university officials, which finally resulted in her suicide,” the NHRC report said, seen by HT.
The NHRC said access to higher education should necessarily be followed by unhampered and continued access till completion of the course.
“After having obtained such access or admission to a course, a student should not be prevented from completing it, except according to procedure established by the law. However, in this instance, KIIT University did not provide the right lawful atmosphere to the deceased girl to pursue her studies, and higher education thereby violated her Right to Higher Education,” the report said.
The NHRC said KIIT University officials admitted that almost 1,000-1,100 students left their hostel on February 17 after the incident when 180 girl students left the hostel in haste, “which could have led to some other untoward incident”.
“But college authorities did not bother about the safety of girl students while throwing them out of campus. Regrettably, the university was unrepentant and even had the audacity to reply that there had been no merit in the allegations. This manifests sheer insensitivity, if not downright arrogance,” the NHRC report said.
The NHRC team, which also inquired into the allegations of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences — a tribal university started by former BJD MP Achyut Samanta — exploiting tribal children and violating their human rights, said the report of Child Welfare Committee in 2017 highlighting poor living conditions there including overcrowding, unclean facilities, and lack of basic amenities still existed.
“The Child Welfare Committee of Khordha in its report in June 2017 had recommended the district collector of Khordha to set up a joint inquiry committee to investigate the issue and recommend the district administration for proper action for the best interest of the children. However, the said joint inquiry is still pending on the part of the district administration. No recommendations of the CWC have been followed by the KISS authorities,” the body said.
HT has sought a response from KIIT officials about the NHRC report.
As per UGC guidelines, higher educational institutions must put in place a broad-based ‘Students Counseling System’ for effective management of problems and challenges faced by students, which the NHRC said have been violated by KIIT University.
The NHRC has also asked the Odisha chief secretary to submit an action taken report within the next four weeks while asking the Bhubaneswar police commissioner to submit an updated investigation report on the suicide case of the Nepali student. It also asked the UGC chairman to consider initiating requisite action against the University for violation of its guidelines and the National Assessment and Accreditation Council chairman has been asked to examine the issue of non-compliance of student support and progression while granting accreditation.
The Odisha government, which formed a high-powered committee headed by additional chief secretary home to probe into reports of misconduct, including the use of force, against students by KIIT officials on February 16 evening and February 17, is yet to submit its report.
