Odisha KIIT student found dead in hostel room, third campus death this year

A first-year KIIT student from Chhattisgarh was found hanging in his Odisha hostel room; police are checking all angles as this becomes the third student death on the campus this year

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

A first-year BTech student at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University was found hanging in his hostel room in Bhubaneswar, news agency PTI reported on Monday.

 

The police identified the student as Rahul Yadav, a Computer Science student from Chhattisgarh. "His body was found hanging in the hostel room," news agency PTI quoted Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Sonal Singh Parmar as saying.

 

According to ACP Parmar, the incident occurred on Sunday. Personnel from Infocity Police Station recovered the body, and the student's family members were travelling to Bhubaneswar after being informed.

 

“The room, which was locked from the inside, was opened in the presence of police officials under videography. The body was then shifted to KIMS Hospital, where the attending doctor declared him dead,” said the Commissionerate Police in Bhubaneswar, as quoted by The Indian Express.

 

The police said they are examining all possible angles to understand what led to the student’s death.

 

Scientific teams visited the hostel to collect evidence. Officers also questioned students and staff to gather more details about the circumstances surrounding the incident.   

 

Third death in KIIT campus this year

 

This is the third suspected suicide on the KIIT campus in 2025. On February 16, a Nepalese woman student died by hanging, and another female student from Nepal died on May 1.

 

In July, the University Grants Commission (UGC) asked KIIT to explain why “disciplinary or legal action” should not be taken after the two earlier deaths.

 

Political response

 

BJP MLA Saroj Padhi raised concern over the repeated student deaths at the institute. "We will place a demand before the chief minister to take stringent action against the persons responsible for the death of students in KIIT," Padhi told reporters in the Assembly premises.

 

(With agency inputs)