Under fire for Nepalese student's suicide, KIIT announces scholarship in memory of Prakriti Lamsal
According to KIIT founder Achyuta Samanta a scholarship would be instituted in Lamsal¡¯s name as a tribute to her memory. The scholarship, as per her father¡¯s desire, will be awarded to meritorious female students from Nepal studying at KIIT.
Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), which has been in the eye of a storm over its failed attempts to cover up a student suicide on campus and the subsequent protests there, has announced a scholarship in memory of the 20-year-old. KIIT, a deemed university based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, made the announcement on Thursday, four days after Prakriti Lamsal, a third-year engineering student there, died of suicide in her hostel room.
CREDIT: KIIT
KIIT announces scholarship
The announcement was made by KIIT founder Achyuta Samanta, who also met with the family of Lamsal.
According to Samanta, a scholarship would be instituted in Lamsal¡¯s name as a tribute to her memory. The scholarship, as per her father¡¯s desire, will be awarded to meritorious female students from Nepal studying at KIIT.
The KIIT family expresses its deepest condolences to the grieving family of late Prakriti Lamsal, a bright student from Nepal whose untimely demise has left us all heartbroken.
¡ª KIIT - Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (@KIITUniversity) February 20, 2025
Prof. Achyuta Samanta met her father and uncle and assured them that Prakriti¡¯s dreams will live on.¡
KIIT's late damage control
This is the latest damage control measure by KIIT after the student suicide, alleged cover-up, racist remarks by staff, and expulsion of students from Nepal metamorphosed into a diplomatic headache for the country.
H.E. @DrShankarSharma had a telephone conversation with Prof. Achyuta Samanta, Founder of KIIT and also met his representatives. Prof. Samanta briefed Dr Sharma about the actions taken by KIIT including a public apology letter from the VC and termination of few staff. pic.twitter.com/4Dwgm8Kb3w
¡ª Nepal Embassy, India (@EONIndia) February 18, 2025
Death of Prakriti Lamsal
The 20-year-old died of suicide after being harassed by a classmate, Advik Srivastava. It is alleged that despite her complaining about the harassment, KIIT authorities did not take any action against the accused. Following Prakriti's death on Sunday, February 16, KIIT authorities expelled and forced other students from Nepal, who were protesting, to vacate their hostels and go back to their home country.
CREDIT: BCCL
A video also went viral, showing two KIIT staffers, including a teacher, making racist remarks at the students.
Distancing itself from the staff, KIIT suspended the duo, and a total of five people, including three senior officials and two security guards, have been arrested by the police.
The 21-year-old student has also been arrested on charges of abetment of suicide.
KIIT appeals students to return
Meanwhile, KIIT, the Odisha Police, and the Odisha government have appealed to the students who were forced to leave their hostels to return.
The Odisha government's Higher Education Department also opened a 24x7 dedicated helpdesk for the students of KIIT and issued helpline numbers to ensure the safety and security of students affected by the incident.
For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
Read More