Family members bringing the body to Nepal
KATHMANDU, Feb 19: The body of Nepali student Prakriti Lamsal, who was found dead in her hostel room at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University in Odisha, India, on Sunday evening, was handed over to her family two days after the incident.
Her family received the body on Tuesday night, following a post-mortem conducted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bhubaneswar. Her body is now being brought to Nepal for the final rites.
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Initial investigations have revealed that Lamsal committed suicide due to mental pressure imposed by a third-year mechanical engineering student at the university. The police arrested the accused, identified as Advik Srivastava, at Bhubaneswar Airport, while he was attempting to flee from the state. Police have initiated investigation into the incident.
Students have been holding silent protests outside the university campus, demanding justice. They expressed their anger against the administration for mishandling the situation in a bid to cover up the incident and excessive use of force on protesting students.
The Odisha government on Tuesday formed an inquiry committee to investigate the incident. The three-member committee is led by the chief secretary (home) of the state government, with the secretaries of the Higher Education Department and the Women and Child Development Department as members.
The committee will investigate the cause of Lamsal’s death in the KIIT hostel and the reasons behind the university's suspension of students who demanded justice. It will also look into why the university administration failed to inform the state government about the incident.
After Lamsal’s death and the escalation of student protests, the police arrested five officials from KIIT University.
Bhubaneswar police arrested and presented the five individuals before the court. The accused include Shivanananda Mishra (59), director general of KIIT’s Human Resource Department; Pratap Kumar Champati (51), director of administration; Sudhir Kumar Rath (59), director of hostels; and KIIT security guards Ramakant Nayak (45) and Jogendra Behera (25).
However, within hours of their arrest, the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Court released them on bail of INR 20,000.
