BHUBANESHWAR: Nepal’s government said it was stepping in to help students affected by a Nepalese student’s death at an college in India. Tensions rose after the administration asked Nepalese students to leave the campus grounds.
Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said Monday evening his government dispatched two officers to counsel Nepalese students after the death of a young woman at a university campus in India sparked protests.
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The Nepalese student, Prakriti Lamsal, was found dead in her dorm room at a well-known private university, the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), in the eastern city of Bhubaneshwar, India on Sunday evening.
Students at the university took to protesting against the incident overnight, asking management for a thorough investigation into the matter, but said they were met with “suppression,” according to the Nepal Students’ Union (NSU).
Turmoil after KIIT asks Nepalese students to ‘vacate’ premises
The university issued a bulletin following protests, asking Nepalese students to “vacate the university campus immediately on February 17,” before rescinding the order Monday evening.
Indian media outlets reported that Nepalese students at the university were asked to board buses so they could be taken to various railway stations and then travel home.
The university administration later issued another appeal on X, writing that it had taken steps to restore normalcy on the campus, adding: “An appeal is made to all our Nepali students who have or plan to leave the campus to return and resume the classes.”
The NSU union told DW that they were “positive about the reversal of the order” but still had concerns about the safety of the students, adding that university authorities had assured the union the people involved in the incident had been suspended.
What do we know about the apparent suicide case so far?
Police told local media reporters that an initial investigation suggested that the Nepalese student died by suicide and that another student from the university had been detained in connection with the incident.
Police official Pinak Mishra told the Times of India newspaper that a student had been detained on charges of abetment to suicide and that a “scientific investigation” was underway to determine the cause of death of the Nepalese student.
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The NSU has demanded a full investigation, saying the authorities at the university were negligent and failed to act on a complaint where she reportedly flagged reports of being harassed by a student.