Odisha university suicide: Five staff arrested over handling of protest, get bail

Five employees of Odisha’s Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology were arrested on Tuesday over the handling of the protest triggered by the alleged suicide of a Nepali student on campus, India Today reported.

The three university officials and two security guards are accused of physically assaulting Nepali students who were protesting the alleged inaction by the institute’s administration despite the girl having sought help about the harassment she allegedly faced.

All five staffers were granted bail by a local court later on Tuesday.

They have been charged under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to causing harm to a person, wrongful restraint, obscene acts and acting with common intention, The Indian Express reported.

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

On Monday, the Bhubaneswar Police arrested the 21-year-old boy from Lucknow in connection with the alleged suicide. The first information report in the case alleges he was blackmailing the girl.

On Tuesday, the Odisha government set up a fact-finding commission, led by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Satyabrata Sahu, to investigate the circumstances of the death of the student, the alleged misconduct by...

Read more