The NHRC has held KIIT Deemed University responsible for the alleged suicide of a Nepali student on 16 February and sought an action report from the Chief Secretary of Odisha on the issue within four weeks. The Commission in its order on Thursday said that the deceased had filed a sexual harassment complaint against a fellow student at the International Relations Office (IRO) of KIIT on March 12, 2024. The commission said but university officials allegedly handled the situation inadequate.
University was held responsible for suicide in NHRC report
The report prepared by NHRC blamed KIIT for Nepali student suicide. Sharing the details of the investigation, NHRC member Priyank Kanungo said that the deceased student had filed a complaint of sexual harassment and blackmail, but instead of taking action, the KIIT administration tried to suppress the case. The 20 -year -old girl committed suicide due to the university’s inaction. Speaking to ANI, Kanungo said, “According to the report submitted to us by the NHRC’s investigation team, the girl had complained to the university management officials about sexual abuse, blackmail and video making. They tried to suppress and hide the case. They did not inform the police. This forced the girl to commit suicide.” The NHRC started investigating the death of the student in the campus. The suicide case started protests in the campus and after allegations against protesting students, MHRC began investigating the case.
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Nepali girl had already threatened suicide
NHRC sent a team to investigate allegations of negligence by KIIT and another university in the same group to investigate human rights violations of tribal students at Kalinga Institute Social Sciences (KISS). The report received by The Telegraph stated that the deceased Nepali girl complained to the KIIT’s International Relations Office (IRO), in which she clearly mentioned that she had already threatened the alleged accused Advik Srivastava that she would commit suicide if she did not remove her naked photos “.
The sexual harassment of women at the workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Prevention Act, 2013) wants organizations with at least 10 employees to set up an internal grievance committee (ICC) to deal with cases of sexual harassment. The report said, “The IRO office and the disciplinary committee only take the promise from the victim and the alleged accused instead of informing or referring to the ICC or local police station.”
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Abuse of Nepali students
Sharing more information, Kanungo said that after the death of the student, Nepali students were abused in KIIT, “After the girl’s suicide, students of Nepali origin were also abused. They were also evacuated from the hostel at midnight. A large number of girls were taken out of the hostel at night. We have sought a reply from the Chief Secretary, Police Commissioner, UGC and NAAC. The report will have to be prepared in the appropriate sections.
NHRC sought action report
After investigation, NHRC has sought an action report from the Government of Odisha, UGC and NAAC within four weeks. After investigation, NHRC uploaded the case status on its website on 27 March and said that the Human Rights Commission has sought reports from the Chief Secretary of Odisha, Collector of Khurda district and District Magistrate, Commissioner of Police and University Grants Commission (UGC) and National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). During the investigation, the NHRC team found that the deceased woman had filed a complaint at the International Relations Office (IRO) of KIIT on March 12, 2024 on February 16, 2025.
