Odisha minister’s nephew booked after student, 21, found dead in her hostel room

A final-year BCA student was booked under Section 108 (Abetment of Suicide) of the BNS following a First Information Report (FIR) lodged by the deceased student’s maternal uncle.

Published on: Jun 21, 2026, 20:30:46 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty, Bhubaneswar

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A final-year Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) student at a private engineering college in Odisha, who is also the nephew of state transport minister Bibhuti Bhushan Jena, was booked for abetment to suicide on Sunday, a day after a 21-year-old woman student was found dead in her hostel room, police said.

Biswajit Jena was booked under Section 108 (abetment of suicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) following a First Information Report (FIR) lodged by the deceased student’s maternal uncle.

The deceased, a third-year BCA student, was found hanging in her hostel room on Saturday morning. She was taken to MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur, where doctors declared her dead.

Her family said the minister’s nephew was in relationship with the girl, and alleged that he murdered her and staged it like a suicide

Police, however, said the investigation is at a preliminary stage and no conclusions have been drawn so far.

“The postmortem of the body was conducted, and an investigation into the case is currently underway,” Berhampur superintendent of police Shravan Vivek M said.

Police have seized the student’s mobile phone and laptop and collected CCTV footage from the hostel premises. Officers have also questioned the deceased’s friends, classmates and other acquaintances in an attempt to reconstruct the events leading up to her death.

Police are examining the nature of the relationship between the deceased and Biswajit, as well as their recent interactions, to ascertain whether there was any harassment, coercion or other circumstances that may have contributed to the incident.

HT reached out to Transport Minister Jena for his comment on the incident but did not receive a reply.

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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