Nepal's National Assembly Chairperson draws govt's attention to thoroughly investigate death of 2 students in Odisha's KIIT

Kathmandu [Nepal], May 4 (ANI): The National Assembly of Nepal has ruled KP Sharma Oli-led government to investigate the death of two Nepali students in Odisha's KIIT in a gap of three months.
The upper house of the Federal Parliament on Sunday echoed with demands to investigate the unnatural death of Prisa Sah, a B.Tech first-year student at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Earlier in February, Prakriti Lamsal also died by suicide at the same university.
"It is extremely sad that incidents of the same nature keep happening again and again in the same college. Both Nepal and India through the diplomatic channels should search for the reason behind such incident, in order not to let these kinds of incidents occur in coming future. I draw the attention of the Government of Nepal to thoroughly investigate the cause of the incident, create an environment that prevents such incidents from occurring in the future, conduct an impartial investigation into the facts of this incident, identify the real situation, and provide appropriate justice to the student," Narayan Prasad Dahal, the Chairperson of National Assembly said in the ruling.
The first-year B.Tech, Computer Science student who was said to be planning to return back home for vacation in mid of this month, was found dead inside her hostel room on May 1. This is the second incident of the death of a Nepali female student at the same university to be reported within three months.
Earlier this year, a Nepali student from the same university was found dead in the hostel on February 16, leading to Nepalese students staging a protest. The protesting students had alleged that a fellow student had harassed her and that the college had failed to act despite multiple complaints. Later, the accused student was arrested on February 17.
Member of the National Assembly following the incidents has now demanded the government to blacklist the university and stop issuing No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the particular institution.
"I want to draw a serious attention of Government of Nepal that it should stop issuing No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the KIIT College. None of the Nepali students should be given the NOC to study there," Tul Prasad Bishwokarma, member of the National Assembly from Rastriya Janamorcha Party demanded.
Other members of the upper house of Nepal's Federal Parliament also questioned over repeated similar incidents at KIIT, demanding for investigation.
"What is the incident there and why is such incidents repeating over the time? Why in the same institute? Answer to these questions should be given by the Government of Nepal by forming a special committee," Ganga Kumari Belbase from the Maoist Center said.
Shekhar Kumar Singh, member of the National Assembly from Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, also demanded an investigation into the case and hold those accountable to avoid repetition of such incidents.
"This is the second incident within four months. How did it got repeated? a full-scale investigation should me made into the issue. Those responsible for it should be held accountable so that incidents of same nature would not repeat in future," Singh said.
Another member of the national assembly, Madan Kumari Shah from CPN- Unified Socialist (CPN-US) blamed that the administration has been given exemption over such incidents demanding investigation over the cases.
"In a gap of three months in the same university- Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), two of our Nepali daughters had to end their life. Should we easily accept it as suicide? I am not ready to accept it. Problem exists in that university, because of which the students have continued to commit suicide. Few months back only, another student had committed suicide there, the suicide has come in series," Madan Kumari Shah said.
Following the death of a Nepali female student at Odisha's Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) expressed its deepest condolences and stated that the Odisha government has extended support for the family, and a thorough investigation is being conducted by the state police.
In a statement released on Friday, the MEA stated, "We are deeply saddened by the tragic demise of a Nepali student of KIIT University, Bhubaneswar. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family during this difficult time."
"Ministry of External Affairs has been in constant touch with the Odisha State Government since we became aware of the tragic incident. The State 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," it added.
The MEA further said that the safety, security and well-being of all international students is a priority for the Indian government. "Government of India takes the safety, security and well-being of all international students very seriously. We remain in close contact with the Nepali authorities, the Odisha State Government as well as KIIT management to ensure real-time communication and coordination in this matter," MEA said.
The Nepal Embassy in New Delhi also expressed condolences and said that they were coordinating with MEA, Odisha government, police and the university for a "thorough investigation.
"Sharing a post on X, the Nepal Embassy wrote, "Deeply saddened by the tragic death of Nepali student Prisha Sah at KIIT, Odisha. Heartfelt condolences to her family."
"Prayers for her eternal peace. We're closely coordinating with MEA, Odisha Govt., police & the university for a thorough investigation," the post added. (ANI)