Bhubaneswar:

The police on Thursday arrested five more staff of the private engineering college KIIT here on the charge of assaulting Nepalese students while they were vacating the hostel following a direction of the institute authorities, police said.

With this, the number of people arrested in the KIIT fiasco increased to 11 including an engineering student, who was booked for allegedly abetting the suicide of a 20-year-old Nepalese woman in her hostel room on Sunday.

Following her death, the Nepalese students had staged demonstrations demanding justice.

The Infocity Police Station in a statement said that the five accused persons, all employees of KIIT, were found in CCTV footage assaulting the students while they were vacating their hostel rooms on Monday between 11 AM to 12.20 PM.

“The KIIT staff suddenly arrived there and asked them to leave as soon as possible. Seeing that the students were a little late in vacating the hostel, the accused persons suddenly got angry and abused them in incomprehensible language, attacked them and beat them up. As a result, the students immediately fled from the place,” the police said.

The police later produced them at the court.

“Based on the evidence provided by the police, the court has rejected their bail petition and remanded them to judicial custody for 14 days,” the police said.

Earlier, the police had arrested five employees of the deemed to be university, and they secured bail. The police were criticised from different quarters for the five accused getting bail.

The police have registered two cases in connection with the suicide of the Nepalese girl student and the subsequent attack on the youths from the neighbouring country allegedly by the staff of KIIT.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Bhubaneswar:

The three-member high-level committee, constituted by the Odisha Government to inquire into the alleged mistreatment meted out to Nepali students by KIIT University in Bhubaneswar, began their probe into the unfortunate incident on Wednesday.

The committee comprises the Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department, Principal Secretary, Women and Child Development and Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Higher Education Department. The committee paid a visit to the university and held discussions with various stakeholders on the matter.

Speaking to media persons at the university, Home Department Additional Chief Secretary Satyabrata Sahu said, “As per the instructions of the state government, we have come here and held discussions with various stakeholders. We are here to visit the places where the incidents have taken place. We will also hold discussions with the affected students. We will submit the report to the government in time.”

The police commissioner of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack twin city who was also present during the visit of the high-level committee told media persons that police have sought the permission of the court to take Advik Srivastava, the accused boyfriend of Nepali student, Prakriti Lamsal, on remand for further investigation into the case.

“We have requested for remand and we will be getting three-day remand for the accused person. He will be interrogated in detail on the issue. We will strengthen the evidence with us through the information elicited during interrogation. We will try to corroborate the allegations of harassment through information fetched during interrogation. Justice will certainly be delivered in the case,” said Police Commissioner Dev Datta Singh.

He further said that the laptop and mobile of the student who died had also been seized and sent to the forensic science laboratory for examination.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi spoke with Nepali Counsellors Sanjeeb Das Sharma and Navin Raj Adhikari over the phone regarding the issue. He assured them that justice would be delivered in the case of the KIIT student, Prakriti. He also assured that peace and normalcy would be restored on the KIIT campus.

The Chief Minister has also urged Nepali students to return to the campus and resume their studies. The Nepali delegation also held talks with Ministers Mukesh Mahaling and Suryabanshi Suraj, and Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja at the State Guest House here on Wednesday to ensure the restoration of normalcy at KIIT.

The Foreign Minister of Nepal Dr Arzu Rana Deuba spoke to the Higher Education Department Minister Suryabanshi Suraj over the phone regarding the matter. The Higher Education minister later said that the female student who died is not only Nepal’s daughter but also the daughter of Odisha.

On the other hand, students of the private university and various student organisations continued their protest demanding justice for Prakriti who ended her life in her hostel room at the KIIT University, Bhubaneswar on Sunday due to continued harassment by her estranged boyfriend.

Police arrested the accused boyfriend on Monday based on a complaint lodged by the Prakriti’s cousin, Siddhant Sigdel.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Bhubaneswar:

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday urged Nepalese students of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) to return to the campus here and resume studies, assuring them that peace and normalcy will be restored soon.

Around 1,000 Nepalese students of KIIT were issued suspension notices and asked to leave the campus immediately by the institute’s authorities on Monday following protests after the body of a student hailing from the neighbouring country, Prakriti Lamsal, was found hanging from the ceiling of her hostel room on Sunday.

However, following the intervention of the Centre and the state government, the KIIT authorities tendered an apology and requested the Nepalese students to return to the campus.

Mr Majhi, who is currently in Rajasthan, spoke over the phone with officials from Nepal, Sanjeeb Das Sharma and Navin Raj Adhikari, who held a meeting with Odisha Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling and Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj, along with Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja at the State Guest House here during the day on the evolving situation.

“The chief minister also assured them that justice will be served in the case of the deceased KIIT student, Prakriti Lamsal,” a CMO statement said.

Besides, Nepal’s Foreign Minister Dr Arzu Rana Deuba also spoke with Odisha Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj over the phone on the issue.

Taking to X, Odisha CMO stated, “Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Mohan Charan Majhi spoke with Nepali Counsellors Sanjeeb Das Sharma and Navin Raj Adhikari, assuring them that justice will be served in the case of the deceased KIIT student, Prakriti. He also assured that peace and normalcy would be restored on the KIIT campus. The CM urged Nepali students to return to campus and resume their studies…”

Earlier, Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, in an X post on Monday, had said, “Our Embassy in New Delhi has dispatched two officers to counsel Nepali students affected in Odisha. Additionally, arrangements have been made to ensure they have the option to either remain in the hostel or return home, based on their preference. #Nepal #Odisha.”

Nepalese students of KIIT alleged they encountered harrowing experiences following the protests over the unnatural death of the student, including being moved out of the campus and left at Cuttack railway station, besides being roughed up, leaving many of them scarred and fearful of returning to the campus.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

In a shocking incident, a student of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology found a dead frog served to him in the hostel food. The student, Aaryansh, took to X, formerly Twitter to share his ordeal and questioned the state of affairs at the education institution. The college was slammed online by several users and it later took note of the situation and issued a notice stating that one day’s payment of the mess provider will be cut as a punishment.

“This is KIIT Bhubaneswar, ranked 42 among engineering colleges in India, where parents pay approx 17.5 lakhs to get their child an engineering degree. This is the food being served at the college hostel. Then we wonder why students from India migrate to other countries for better education and facilities,” Aaraynsh wrote on the microblogging site while sharing the picture of the frog covered in food.

This is KIT Bhubaneswar, ranked ~42 among engineering colleges in India, where parents pay approx 17.5 lakhs to get their child an engineering degree. This is the food being served at the college hostel.

Then we wonder why students from India migrate to other countries for… pic.twitter.com/QmPaz4mD82

— Aaraynsh (@aaraynsh) September 23, 2023

A few hours later, he posted another update on the circular issued by the institute. The notice, dated September 23, issued to the mess contractor mentioned that the food is “totally unhygienic” and the students were “dissatisfied” with the lunch. It added, “Therefore, one day payment for (Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks & Dinner) food items is hereby deducted as a token of punishment since this concerns the boarders health and hygiene. Further, you are WARNED to be very much careful while preparing food for the boarders of your allotted hostels. You are again instructed to keep your kitchen, store and food quality hygiene.”

So, this is the value of human life. The hostel where the frog was served, at Bhubaneswar University, in an attempt to do damage control, decided to deduct only one day’s payment from the mess provider company! Just wow. pic.twitter.com/2BSDhUwI8I

— Aaraynsh (@aaraynsh) September 24, 2023

“So, this is the value of human life. The hostel where the frog was served, at Bhubaneswar University, in an attempt to do damage control, decided to deduct only one day’s payment from the mess provider company! Just wow,” the student said in another post. 

The post amassed a lot of attention from internet users and many criticized the college for their approach to the situation. 

“Reminds me of that time when i got blade in my hostel food,” commented a person.

“Canteen food is miserable in almost all the govt colleges but private ones are 5 star quality food,” added a user.

A third user added, “Pathetic….the institution,the canteen contractor, the incharge all should be sued & their licences should be suspended.”

“Once we got Lizard in food in our Hostel Mess. Didn’t ate in Mess for whole semester after that,” remarked a person.

“It remind me of that time when we got some insects in our food. Literally in every 3rd plate of mess,” said another person.