KIIT hostel has seen another female student’s death after the devastating Prakriti Lamsal case shook the country, making it the second such tragedy with the same institute at the centre within months. Bhubaneswar Police Commissioner S. Devdutt Singh confirmed that the latest case of apparent suicide, which is still being probed, claimed the life of a student from Birgunj, Nepal.
The shocking news emerging from Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology in Bhubaneswar has refreshed the gut-wrenching memories tied to the death of 20-year-old Prakriti Lamsal. The Nepalese student, who was pursuing B.Tech (Computer Science), was found dead in her hostel room on February 16.
Prakriti Lamsal’s family spoke out
At the time, her father, Sunil Lamsal, expressed shock over the life-shattering loss: “I had sent my daughter for higher studies, trusting that she would be safe. What happened here is unacceptable.” An Indian Express report quotes Prakriti’s father revealing that their family decided to send her to India after the university organised a workshop in Kathmandu in 2022.
“They told us about the scope and facilities provided by the college, because of which we decided to send our daughter for admission. She is gone, but this shouldn’t happen with any other student. Students from far-off areas come here to study,” he said. Prakriti was said to be a “brilliant student,” who “dreamt of prosperous career in the IT industry and to make her parents proud.”
Emerging allegations at the time suggested that Lamsal was being harassed and blackmailed by Advik Srivastava. Prakriti’s cousin, Siddhant Sigdel, revealed that she had repeatedly reported of Srivastava harassing her but authorities did not act on it. Sigdel got admission into the mechanical engineering branch in the 2022-23 academic year. Another one of Prakriti’s cousins, Anurodh, was in the computer science department. Siddhant told IE, “Anurodh and I are roommates. I used to ask Anurodh about her as they frequently met in the laboratory and classrooms. Both of us had no idea about the mental harassment she was facing.”
Suicide prompted by harassment, molestation
Around 40% of international students at KIIT, Odisha, are reportedly from Nepal. Although the tragic unravelling was initially registered as a case of suicide, the questionable circumstances surrounding Lamsal’s death unleashed seething student unrest.
What’s worse is that the harrowing situation developed against the backdrop of a three-day annual fest. While the university was busy engaging in ceremonious pageantry, a young student was allegedly being subjected to physical and verbal abuse. An audio file that went viral after Prakriti’s death supposedly lifted the lid on a fellow student tormenting her. In the clip, one can hear two individuals addressing each other as Advik and Prakriti, as the former appeared to abuse the latter.
KIIT’s mishandling of the death probe, mistreatment of Nepali students
As reported by The Tatva India, one of Prakriti’s batchmates claimed that Srivastava blackmailed the Nepali student, purportedly his ex-girlfriend, into sending him nudes and engaging in sexual acts with him despite their prior breakup. Advik is believed to have threatened to leak their sex tape. The student sharing these revelations at the time even accused the KIIT hostel warden of clearing out the deceased’s room without informing the police. Students were reportedly having a blast at a Badshah concert when everything unfolded, leaving room for the hostel personnel to possibly tamper with the evidence.
“The boy is the son of a politician and it’s very much possible he’ll get out easily,” the student shared in the statement. “As of now, KIIT has released a notice to all Nepali students to vacate the hostels and have given them tickets to send them back home after dropping them off to the railway station to downplay the uproar.”
Prakriti Lamsal’s batchmate also noted, “It’s coming out that he’s been assaulting the girl mentally n physically all this while. She had been trying to report it for a month now, but they didn’t register, or take any action against it! Hence she had to kill herself to be free from that man, and the lack of help from the embassy, college, everyone!”
In the aftermath of the tragedy, the late 20-year-old student’s mobile phone and laptop was seized for forensic examination and Advika was arrested under charges of abetment of suicide.
Second KIIT suicide within months
The case continues to be at the focus of intense scrutiny. Ultimately, the incident prompted diplomatic engagement as sharp comments from Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli followed. “Our Embassy in New Delhi has dispatched two officer to counsel Nepali students affected in Odisha,” he tweeted back then. “Additionally, arrangement have been made to ensure they have the option to either remain in their hostel or return home, based on their preference.”
Despite KIIT already being under fire for mishandling Prakriti Lamsal’s case, similar reports of unrest have begun to take over the headlines in light of the second Nepali student’s death in the varsity. Calling for a comprehensive probe, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) highlighted how the latest news was a stark reminder of the February tragedy. “The incident has repeated. There was one more suicide case from the same hostel and building… ABVP demands a thorough investigation into the matter,” a member of the student organisation told reporters.
Similarly, Samar Bahadur, a member of Akhil Bharat Nepali Ekta Samaj, said, “We demand an investigation into this matter as soon as possible. We will also investigate the matter in detail, what happened and why she died… We want the accused should be arrested and punished.”