[Watch] Death Of Student In Bhubaneswar Blamed On Female Friend’s Family Threats

Bhubaneswar: Family of the 18-year-old boy, who allegedly died by suicide in his hostel room at a private institute in Bhubaneswar, has blamed his female friend and her family for the extreme step.

The first-year B Tech student of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) was found hanging in his hostel room here on Sunday night. He was a native of neighbouring Chhattisgarh.

Speaking to the media, his mother alleged harassment by a girl and her family, also from Chhattisgarh, claiming it pushed him to take his life. “She used to force my son to confront his exes. My son was very emotional about this relationship and she would ask him to visit her at Raipur. The girl is doing LLB in Pune. Her mother was also involved in it and had once forced my son to travel with them to Vrindavan and Mathura,” she noted.

The aggrieved mother alleged that he took the extreme step after the girl’s father threatened to lodge a complaint against him. “She had asked him to visit her but later complained to her father about him. The mother also used to threaten him with fake calls from the cyber cells,” she said.

She clarified that the incident had nothing to do with the institute, which he had only joined recently.

Police have sealed the room, seized the mobile phone and laptop of the deceased and have launched a detailed investigation. A case has also been registered at Infocity police station against the woman, her father, mother and brother for abetment of suicide, among other sections of the BNS. “The complaint alleges harassment of her son by the father, mother and brother of the girl. Based on her complaint, registration of a case at Infocity PS is underway,” the police said in a statement.

While terming it as a “sad and unfortunate” incident, KIIT, in a statement, said the student died by suicide owing to a love-related matter. “The student took his own life due to personal reasons. The student’s mother has given a statement in this regard. According to her, her son had been in a long-term romantic relationship with a young woman. After the postmortem, the mother further revealed that the father and family members of his girlfriend had threatened and intimidated the student, which left him terrified. As a result, the student felt compelled to take the extreme step,” it further stated.

The institute also expressed concern over the recent surge in suicide tendencies among students in various educational institutions, both in Odisha and other states.