Odisha university suicide: 159 students return to Nepal, allege inhuman treatment

At least 159 students from Odisha’s Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology have returned to their homes in Nepal, days after a Nepali student died reportedly by suicide on campus, PTI reported on Saturday.

The development comes amid claims of misconduct by the university’s management toward those protesting the death.

Suman Kumar Karki, the assistant chief district officer in Nepal’s Parsa, said that 159 Nepali students had returned to their homes till Thursday evening from the Raxaul border point, located in Bihar’s East Champaran district.

A group of students who had returned to Nepal told reporters that they were subjected to “inhuman treatment” at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology after the alleged suicide. “We were abused and got inhuman treatment,” PTI quoted the students as saying.

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

The 20-year-old student was found dead in the university hostel on February 16. The third-year Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science student was believed to have died by suicide due to a suspected “strained relationship” and the harassment that she allegedly faced from a male batchmate on campus.

On February 17, the Bhubaneswar Police arrested the 21-year-old boy from Lucknow in connection with the alleged suicide....

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