Bhubaneswar: The last rites of the Nepalese student Prisha Saha, who was found dead inside her hostel room at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in Bhubaneswar, will be conducted at Swargadwar in Odisha’s Puri.
According to sources, the parents of the deceased student have arrived in the city and the postmortem is currently underway at AIIMS here. The entire process is being videographed in accordance with the standard operating procedure.
Prisha’s mortal remains will then be taken to Puri for the traditional last rites, a police officer told the media.
The body of the first-year computer science BTech student was found hanging in her room in the girls’ hostel on Thursday evening. The matter is being treated as an unnatural death, according to Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissioner of Police Suresh Dev Datta Singh.
“Though preliminary investigation suggests there might have been a love affair angle to the incident, we are yet to arrive at any conclusion. The student’s parents along with her brother have arrived in Bhubaneswar to take her body. We are yet to interrogate them,” said the police officer.
The family was informed about her death at around 8 pm on May 1. Prisha’s father told the media that he had spoken to her at 3 pm on that day and she sounded fine. “My granddaughter did not seem to be under any mental stress. She was a brilliant student. She had visited us about a month ago. Someone might have killed her here to take revenge,” Prisha’s grandfather told the media.
Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) sent a notice to the DGP and Chief Secretary demanding an Action Taken Report (ATR) in connection with the death of the student, the second from the Himalayan kingdom at the institute within three months.
This came a day after the UGC established a four-member fact-finding committee chaired by Nageshwar Rao, Vice Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Open University, to examine the circumstances surrounding the student suicide incidents, including factors such as institutional policies, academic pressure, grievance redressal mechanism and student support system.
Earlier, Nepal’s foreign minister Arzu Rana Deuba had said that diplomatic steps have been initiated for a proper investigation into the student’s death.
In a separate statement, Nepal’s ambassador to India, Shankar Sharma, said that the embassy is closely coordinating with the external affairs ministry, Odisha government, the police and the university for a “thorough investigation”.
The Ministry of External Affairs also stated that India takes safety of international students “very seriously” while assuring that the Government of Odisha has “extended full support to the family of the deceased and a thorough enquiry is currently being conducted by the Odisha Police.”
STATEMENT FROM KIIT
The KIIT authorities are deeply saddened and distressed by the unfortunate incident of a student’s suicide on campus. It is with a heavy heart that we express our deepest condolences on the tragic and untimely death of one of our students from Nepal, a young girl pursuing her studies in the 1st year B. Tech Computer Science.
Upon discovering the incident, the hostel authorities promptly informed the local police. The police arrived at the scene, and the student’s body was recovered in their presence. She was immediately taken to KIMS Hospital, where she was declared brought dead. Subsequently, the body was transferred to AIIMS Bhubaneswar for further procedures. Upon receiving the news, senior police officials reached the scene and monitored all the procedures along with a scientific team and carried out a preliminary investigation immediately.
The University administration has informed the student’s family immediately and is extending full cooperation to the police in their investigation. We mourn this irreparable loss and stand in solidarity with her family, friends, and the entire Nepali student community during this extremely difficult time.
May her soul rest in peace