KIIT row: Police hand over girl student’s body to family after autopsy
Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police Tuesday handed over the body of the Nepali girl student to her father after post mortem at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, even as the incident triggered a statewide outcry with the issue being raised in the Assembly.
Prakriti Lamsal (20), a third-year B Tech (computer science) student at city-based Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), allegedly died by suicide at her hostel room Sunday afternoon, leading to unrest on the campus.
Sunil Lamsal, the girl’s father, accompanied by his friends, arrived here and remained present during the post mortem of the body. Sunil said that they were planning to take the body to Nepal.
“Police have registered two cases, one in connection with the girl’s suicide by hanging following her cousin’s complaint and another by police on the contents of the social media video where the security personnel and staff of the private university were abusing and beating up the students who protested over the incident,” Bhubaneswar DCP Pinak Mishra told PTI.
Police have also arrested the two security guards, identified as Ramakanta Nayak (45) and Jogendra Behera (25), and registered a criminal case against them under Sections 126 (2) [wrongful restraint], 296 [obscene acts], 115 (2) [voluntarily causing hurt], and 3 (5) [joint criminal liability] of the BNS.
In the footage, these security guards were seen assaulting the students when they were picketing and demanding justice over the girl’s death, officials claimed.
Meanwhile, the issue was also raised in the state Assembly, where the members, cutting across party lines, expressed concern over the death of the girl and subsequent incidents where the students of the neighbouring country were evicted from the hostel.
All the members admitted that the KIIT developments have brought a bad name to the state, and they should not be tolerated.
While Congress demanded a judicial inquiry into the matter relating to the death of the girl and alleged torture of students, the BJP members demanded the arrest of KIIT founder Achyuta Samanta.
The BJD said the incident was an outcome of the worsening law and order situation in BJP-ruled Odisha. As the incident also sparked protests in Nepal, its Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli offered some relief to the distressed students.
Two officers from the Nepal embassy in Delhi are likely to visit the institute, officials said.
On Monday, Oli posted on Facebook in Nepali, “It has come to our attention through media and social media that a Nepali student has died in a hostel of KIIT University in Odisha and that Nepali students have been forcibly evicted. The government is working on this matter through diplomatic channels and is in contact with the relevant authorities.”
