NEW DELHI: An NHRC team, which is probing into the death of a 20-year-old Nepalese girl student at the KIIT University here, has met senior police officers of the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack commissionerate, officials said.
The NHRC team initiated its investigation into the incident on Thursday, with plans to continue on Friday. They met with senior KIIT officials and founder Achyuta Samanta during their visit.
Police Commissioner S Dev Datta Singh stated, “We have met the NHRC team at the state guest house and gave all pertinent information to them. A liaison officer has been specifically assigned to support and facilitate the ongoing investigation by the rights panel.”
The Police Commissioner and Bhubaneswar DCP Jagmohan Meena engaged with the rights panel representatives on Thursday night, providing details about the circumstances surrounding the student’s alleged suicide.
The NHRC representatives were briefed about the campus unrest following the death of Prakriti Lamsal, a third-year Computer Science student at KIIT.
Led by Registrar (Law) Joginder Singh, the NHRC inquiry team spent approximately five hours at KIIT University campus, where Lamsal was found on February 16 evening. They spoke with the deceased’s friends, hostel mates, and KIIT officials allegedly involved in misconduct with Nepalese students.
The team’s investigation includes examining reported attacks on Nepalese students by institute staff, with findings due by March 10.
The investigation follows a complaint and correspondence from Nepal’s rights panel. The petitioner alleged that Lamsal experienced harassment from an engineering student before her death, with no action taken despite her complaint to KIIT’s International Relations Office.
Local authorities have arrested one engineering student for abetment to suicide, who remains in judicial custody since February 17.
The complaint also detailed that protesting Nepalese students faced verbal abuse, threats, and physical assault from KIIT officials and security personnel. They were reportedly forced to leave their hostels and were left at a railway station.
Police have arrested 10 KIIT officials for assaulting Nepalese students, with five remaining in custody.
The state government has established a three-member committee, led by the additional chief secretary (home), to investigate the matter.