Nepali student dies by suicide in Bhubaneswar’s KIIT hostel, second in 3 months

Police said the Nepali student who died by suicide on Thursday evening was from Birgunj area of Nepal

Updated on: May 2, 2025, 03:52:43 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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BHUBANESWAR: A Nepali undergraduate student found dead in her hostel room in Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) on Thursday evening, the second such case in less than three months.

Bhubaneswar police Commissioner S Devdutt Singh said the girl was found dead in her hostel room on the campus and is suspected to have died by suicide. The circumstances that may have led her to die by suicide are unclear.

She was studying computer science and hails from Birgunj area of Nepal. The police reached the KIIT Campus and are investigating the case, Singh said.

The death on the campus comes less than three months after a 20-year-old Nepali student, also studying computer science, died by suicide following alleged blackmail by her classmate which later snowballed into a major crisis over some faculty members making racial and humiliating comments at the Nepali students.

The accused, Advik Shrivastava, a third-year B Tech student was later arrested by Bhubaneswar police at the city airport while he was allegedly trying to flee. The university had faced flak for its handling of the case when university officials ordered over 1,000 Nepali students to leave the campus. The external affairs ministry had subsequently intervened which led the university switch to damage-control mode and issue apologies.

The National Human Rights Commission which probed the case, held the university responsible for the sequence of events that led the student to die by suicide. NHRC said the victim was sexually harassed by the accused and the subsequent inaction by the university’s International Relations Office violated the deceased’s right to equality and right to live with dignity and led to her suicide.

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.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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