The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Nepal has approached the Indian counterpart seeking investigation into the incident where students from the Himalayan nation allegedly faced ill-treatment at the hands of some officials at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, while demanding justice following the death of a B-Tech student from Nepal.
In a press release, Nepal’s human rights body stated that it has urged the Indian NHRC to ensure safety and security of the Nepalese students so that they can study in a fear-free environment, and demanded action against university officials who ill-treated the students.
“The commission has written to the National Human Rights Commission of India requesting an early investigation into the incident of Nepali students studying at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University. The commission urged to ensure full safety to the students studying there, and hold the office-bearers to account with a fair investigation,” it said.
The communique comes following complaints to the Nepal NHRC that students who were allegedly evicted from the KIIT, following the protest by Nepalese students in the aftermath of the student’s suicide, are unable to return to campus, apprehending repercussion.
The commission has also sought information from the Nepal Embassy in India about the incident and the condition of the students, the release stated.
The KIIT campus has been on the boil since a Nepali woman student died on campus on February 16, 2025, in a suspected suicide case. However, some students staged protests in response alleging harassment by varsity officials that led to the woman’s death.
Also read: After Kathmandu Intervenes, Odisha’s KIIT Reverses Order Asking Nepali Students to Leave Campus
Subsequently, KIIT’s management asked the protesting students to leave. The Hindu reported that over 500 Nepali students were forced to leave and that the university bussed students to Cuttack railway station so they could go home. Several students did not have train tickets, according to the newspaper.
Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli had expressed concern over the incident and requested KIIT to let the agitating students remain on campus and study at the university.
“Our Embassy in New Delhi has dispatched two officers to counsel Nepali students affected in Odisha. Additionally, arrangements have been made to ensure they have the option to either remain in their hostel or return home, based on their preference,” he had said in a post on X.
Later, the varsity publicly appealed to its “Nepali students who have or plan to leave the campus to return and resume the classes”.
Meanwhile, Nepal’s foreign minister Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba spoke to Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on February 22 over the phone and insisted that the teachers and staffers who misbehaved with Nepalese students be removed from KIIT, according to news agency PTI.