KIIT Student Death Row: 159 Students Of Odisha University Return To Nepal, Claim They Were ‘Treated Inhumanly’

As protests continued days after the death of a Nepalese female student and the college administration ordered Nepali students to vacate the college hostel, 159 students have returned to the country via the Raxaul border, an official said.

The Assistant Chief District Officer, Parsa, Suman Kumar Karki, said that 159 Nepali students arrived home from the Raxaul border point till Thursday evening.

‘We got inhuman treatment,’ Claim KIIT Students

Speaking to the media, a group of students who returned to Nepal said that they were subjected to “inhuman treatment” at KIIT after the death of the Nepalese female student in the college hostel. One of the students claimed that after the mysterious death of Prakriti Lamsal, we were “abused and got inhuman treatment.”

They further added, “We were beaten up by security guards in the presence of university teachers and other staff and asked to vacate the hostel immediately.”

Moreover, the students said they didn’t feel safe to return to the college despite assurance given by the university administration. “There was no safe and conducive environment for study despite the assurances given by the college,” they added.

Showing concern, the students have asked that the death of Prakriti Lamsal be investigated properly, and the victimized students should get justice.

Following this tragic event, Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba assured that India accords high priority to the safety, security, and well-being of all international students in the country. While addressing the media at the Tribhuvan International Airport, Rana said, “The Nepal government has resolved the problem surrounding the death of a Nepali student in KIIT Odisha through diplomatic channels by handling the situation seriously.”

She further said that after the initiative was taken by the Foreign Ministry of Nepal, the Odisha government has taken the issue seriously, and a high-level investigation committee has also been informed.

Who Was Prakriti Lamsal?

Prakriti Lamsal was 20 years old and a B Tech student at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in Odisha. She allegedly died by suicide in her hostel room on February 16, leading to unrest on the campus.

For the unversed, there are around 1,000 Nepalese students studying in KIIT, Odisha.

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