The last three days have been a nightmare for 24-year-old Siddhant Sigdel, a student at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), a premiere institute in Odisha. His 20-year-old cousin, a Computer Science student, who was studying at the same university died by suicide on February 16.
Sigdel is grieving and at the same time battling a surge of rumors surrounding his cousin’s death.
A Sudden Death
Sigdel is struggling to come to terms with the tragedy. Speaking to BOOM over the phone from Bhubaneswar, he said, “The incident still feels unreal, and I am in a daze.”
On the afternoon of February 16, as students were celebrating a campus fest, Sigdel received a call from one of his cousin’s batchmates, urging him to rush to the hostel. "I went to the KIMS Emergency Ward directly, but it was already very late," he told BOOM.
He identified the lifeless body of his sister, a 20-year-old student of KIIT, in the Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) casualty department a day later.
Her death sent shockwaves through the university, triggering widespread protests, allegations of harassment, diplomatic concerns, and a storm of speculation across social media.
The Complaint
Later that night, at 9:51 PM, Sigdel filed a police complaint, naming Advik Srivastava, a 21-year-old BTech (Mechanical) student from KIIT, as responsible for his cousin’s death. “There was enough proof and evidence about him. The entire college had seen them together and they always had problems. I knew how my sister suffered because of him,” Sigdel alleged.
Meanwhile, the death of the student sparked massive protests by Nepali students in Bhubaneshwar.
Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police Commissioner S. Dev Datta Singh confirmed that an investigation was launched based on prima facie evidence of mental harassment and complaint from the victim’s cousin Siddhant Sigdel.
The 21-year-old, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow, was arrested on Monday from outside Bhubaneswar's airport and charged with abetment of suicide. He is currently in judicial custody.
The Harassment
Students of KIIT claim that Srivastava had physically and mentally harassed the Nepali student, ultimately pushing her to take the extreme step.
As the news started emerging from the campus, an audio clip went viral, alleged to be a conversation between the victim and Srivastava. In the clip, a man is heard unleashing an expletives-ridden tirade against a woman who can be heard sobbing. Sigdel confirmed the authenticity of the clip and said, “My sister was always at the receiving end in the relationship and their problems were visible.”
Sidgel told BOOM that he had accompanied his sister twice to the International Relations Office (IRO) of KIIT to complain about the harassment, around five weeks before her death.
"They took an undertaking from us but no strict action was taken," Sigdel told BOOM.
We reached out to KIIT’s IRO via the Control Room number of the varsity to get a response on the allegations, but the calls went unanswered.
The Speculations On Social Media
The case has been clouded by a flurry of online rumors. A viral screenshot of an unverified document claims that a postmortem report found two semen samples in the victim’s body. However, Sigdel refuted these speculations, stating that the family has not yet received the official report. “The postmortem report is still pending. I don’t know where these rumors are coming from,” he told BOOM.
Investigating officer Pramila Marei also dismissed these claims, saying, “These are mere speculations. We cannot conclusively say anything until we receive the official postmortem report.”
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The Protests
The tragedy ignited massive protests by Nepali students on campus, who alleged that university authorities mishandled the situation. The protests took an unexpected turn when faculty members allegedly asked Nepali students to vacate the campus.
“As soon as the news of her suicide broke, we started protesting. Then, teachers instructed all Nepali students to leave the campus,” a third-year Engineering student at KIIT told BOOM.
In an official letter, the university declared a ‘sine die’ closure for Nepali students, instructing them to leave by February 17. Reports suggest that over 500 Nepali students were transported to railway stations, from where they were asked to return home.
Videos soon surfaced showing KIIT employees ordering Nepali students to pack their belongings and leave. In one clip, a staff member is heard making racist remarks, claiming that KIIT’s budget surpasses Nepal’s national budget. Both of them have since apologised for the remarks.
As the videos started going viral, the university went into a damage control mode.
The university put out statements from their official X handle asking Nepali students to return and apologising. In one notice dated February 17, the varsity appealed to the Nepali students to return to the campus and resume classes. In a 'follow up note' posted on their X handle KIIT also claimed to have terminated their security staff, hostel officials and a senior administrative officer of the IRO. The note also apologised for the comments made by the staff to the Nepali students.
The university set up two helplines operated by Nepali alumni to assist displaced students.
BOOM spoke to the operators of the helplines. "We have been getting calls from students who are stranded in stations like Howrah, Patna and New Delhi and offering them flight tickets to bring them back to the campus. We are sponsoring these tickets, and for those who have already reached Nepal, we are trying to get them back as well," Chandan, control room operator and a KIIT faculty member said. BOOM has reached out to the public relations officer of KIIT. The article will be updated as and when we get a response.
The family will fly to Nepal with the mortal remains for a funeral in a couple of days and Sigdel wishes to come back to complete his degree. “I have to go to attend my cousin’s funeral to gain closure. This incident will leave a scar, but I will come back and finish my engineering degree,” he said.