KIIT Nepali student death: Orissa HC issues notice to University in Prakriti Lamsal case

Trouble once again mounted for KIIT University in Bhubaneswar after it was formally made a party in the case concerning the death of a Nepali girl student Prakriti Lamsal.

Also Read: KIIT student suicides: UGC issues ‘show-cause’ notice to varsity after probe panel finds serious lapses

The Orissa High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to KIIT, asking the institution to submit a detailed explanation regarding the circumstances surrounding the student’s death.

According to court records, the death occurred on February 16 this year, and the High Court had earlier sought a reply from the authorities concerned. With the University now added as a respondent, the case is expected to see further hearings as the court examines responsibility and procedural actions taken by the institution following the incident.

The notice was served to KIIT authorities while hearing a petition (Public Interest Litigation) earlier filed by social activist Pratap Mohanty. The petitioner had sought the High Court’s intervention seeking justice with regard to the alleged role of KIIT authorities before and after the ‘death by suicide’, in which international relations between both the sovereign countries – India and Nepal had strained, and Odisha was blamed.

Previously, the government pleader had cited before the court that accused male friend of the Nepali girl student Prakriti Lamsal had been arrested, a detailed probe completed, and a chargesheet submitted against the accused then identified as Advik Srivastava.

However, KIIT authorities were not made a party to the original case and were not interrogated at that time. The sensitive case has several angles which also needed to be thoroughly probed, PIL petitioner Pratap Mohanty had appealed.

KIIT authorities have not yet made any statement on the High Court notice.

Worth mentioning, the University Grants Commission (UGC) issued a ‘show-cause’ notice to KIIT University after a fact-finding panel probing student suicides pointed out serious lapses on the varsity's part, a UGC notification issued on July 21 in this regard said.

One more KIIT student was found dead, the third such incident in a year, under suspicious circumstances inside his hostel room in Bhubaneswar. The deceased was identified as Rahul Yadav, a resident of Chhattisgarh and a first-year Computer Science student at KIIT.