Bhubaneswar: The 21-year-old youth arrested on Monday for his alleged role in abetting the suicide of a Nepalese BTech student at a private education institute, here, will undergo a voice-matching or spectrography test, the govt said on Thursday. The accused, a student of the same university, was sent to three-day police custody on Wednesday evening.
The test became necessary following the emergence of audio recordings containing alleged phone conversations between the accused and the deceased girl. The Lucknow-based classmate of the deceased faces allegations of harassment and blackmail, which reportedly led to the girl taking her life on Sunday. The incident sparked protests by Nepalese students, who were subsequently told to vacate the campus before the university revoked its order.
DCP Pinak Mishra said the voice spectrography test will help to verify if the male voice in the recordings, purportedly containing conversations between the accused and the deceased, corresponds to the suspect. In the audio recording, which has gone viral, a man is heard verbally abusing a woman.
“The spectrographic voice identification process involves recording the suspect’s voice sample and comparing it with the audio clips. The process analyses wavelengths and frequencies of both recordings in detail. The outcomes of this voice analysis will serve as crucial evidence in the investigation,” DCP Mishra said.
Police have also formed a dedicated cyber team to examine the contents of the accused’s laptop and mobile phone. Police said they are conducting scientific, forensic, and technical investigations to ensure justice prevails.
The govt’s high-level probe panel, headed by additional chief secretary (home department) Satyabrata Sahu, made their second visit to KIIT Deemed to be University campus on Thursday. They are investigating the suicide and subsequent unrest, which prompted Nepalese govt to seek New Delhi’s intervention to ensure their students’ safety.
The issue, meanwhile, continued to rock the assembly with Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati on Thursday demanding action against senior KIIT officials. “It seems the govt is trying to shield the real culprits as the wives of several IAS and IPS officers are employed in KIIT,” Bahinipati told journalists outside the assembly.
The govt assured that serious efforts are underway to restore campus peace and deliver justice. Industries minister Sampad Chandra Swain said, “The govt swiftly intervened and took action. The student who was harassing the victim was promptly arrested. Three officers of KIIT and their two security guards were also arrested. KIIT suspended three officers and issued an apology. A high-level fact-finding team, constituted by the govt, has began a probe. Those found guilty after the probe will face stringent action.”