India reassures Nepali students after suicide sparked protest

BHUBANESWAR/KATHMANDU - India has assured students from Nepal of its efforts to ensure their well-being, following protests triggered by the suicide of a Nepali woman studying in the eastern state of Odisha.

Police have taken into custody a male student as they investigate Feb 16 death at a women's hostel, said officials of the university in the state's capital of Bhubaneswar attended by more than 400 Nepali students.

"Nepali students studying in India form an important facet of enduring people-to-people links," the Indian embassy in Kathmandu, the capital of the neighbouring majority-Hindu nation, said on Feb 17.

"The government of India will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure the well-being of Nepali students in India," it added in its statement.

The assurance followed Feb 17's protests by students who had blocked a road for hours, which the university said had caused "inconvenience and escalating tensions".

Students shouted slogans and pushed through the gates of buildings in images on domestic media.

"Students have been requested to resume classes as soon as possible," Shradhanjali Nayak, a spokesperson for the university, the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, told Reuters. "The situation is quite under control."

The university, which has 40,000 enrollments a year, also withdrew an internal document urging all international students from Nepal to leave immediately.

The Nepali embassy in New Delhi, the Indian capital, said it had contacted university authorities and asked them to ensure the security and safety of Nepali students.

In a post on X, Nepal's Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli said two officers had been sent to counsel the students, with arrangements made to offer them the options of staying in their hostel or returning home.

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Source: Reuters