Odisha govt orders probe into alleged police brutality against Nepali students at KIIT University

The Odisha Government on Tuesday ordered high-level fact-finding committee to probe “use of force” on students from Nepal who held protests over suicide of their colleague inside the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University campus, after a diplomatic crisis unfolded between India and Nepal over the matter.

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Protests rocked KIIT campus in Bhubaneshwar after third-year engineering student Prakristi Lamsal was found dead in her hostel room on Sunday. KIIT also confirmed the student committed suicide saying, “It is suspected that the student was in a love affair with another student at KIIT which might be the reason of suicide.”

The situation worsened to the extent that Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli took to social media stating that two officers from the country’s embassy in New Delhi has been dispatched to Odisha to address the situation.

The state government today, taking cognisance of the incident, has taken steps to arrest security guards allegedly involved in beating the students inside the campus, while erring officials have also been suspended.

“…The institution has been placed under notice, and appropriate legal and administrative action shall follow based on the findings of the High Level Fact Finding Committee constituted by the Government…Reports of misconduct including the use of force against students by private individuals, are being investigated into, and those responsible, shall be held accountable as per the law…,” an official readout from the Odisha Government said.

Also, after the intervention of diplomats following the KIIT’s bizarre order asking students from Nepal to vacate the campus yesterday, the university has been in damage control mode. It has not only revoked the order, but has been continuously issued successive apologies, including its officials have taken to social media and issuing apologies. KIIT has been urging students from Nepal to comeback and resume their classes, with the message: “We love you”.

In his letter of apology, the university’s vice-chancellor, Prof Saranjit Singh said, “We are extremely appalled by the untoward incident that took place in our campus on the evening of 16th February 2025. We are also regretful of the way some of us behaved with the agitating students. We love our students and had never done any disservice to them.”

The VC’s apology letter to the students also mentioned, “The comments made by two of our officers are extremely irresponsible. Although the comments are made on their personal capacity in the spur of the moment, we do not support their action. We have removed them from service. They too have apologised for their behaviour.”

KIIT’s action comes after a video of two staffers misbehaving with Nepali students went viral on social media. The women in the viral video are Manjusha Pandey, Associate Professor at School of Computer Engineering, and Jayanti Nath, Joint Director of Girls’ Hostel & Student Affairs. Both have issued an apology in separate videos posted on X.

The VC’s letter also mentioned, “We too apologise for all that has happened and hereby tender our love and affection to all the students and people of Nepal. We love them as much as we love the people of India and the people of the world. Additionally, we are again appealing our Nepali students to join the regular academics with immediate effect.”

The university said it has terminated two security personnel “immediately”, besides two senior hostel officials and one senior administrative officer of International Relations Office (IRO) were suspended. This comes after there were allegations of use force against the students on campus.