Nepalese student, who died at KIIT in Feb, had filed harassment plaint 11 months back: Minister
Bhubaneswar, Mar 21 (PTI): The Nepalese student, who died by suicide at KIIT in February, had lodged a complaint of sexual harassment before the varsity authorities in March last year, Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj told the Odisha assembly on Friday.
Replying to a written question from Congress MLA Dasarathi Gomanga, Suraj said the engineering student had filed a complaint of sexual harassment before the KIIT authorities on March 12, 2024, about 11 months before her death.
He told the assembly that 19 people have so far appeared before the high-level committee set up by the state government, to inquire into the girls's death and the subsequent harassment of those protesting it, and recorded their statements.
He also said that the KIIT has submitted documents to the government in regard to the formation of an internal committee as per the guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
The body of the 20-year-old was found in her hostel room on February 16. She allegedly ended her life as no action was taken over her sexual harassment complaint, according to police.
Suraj said the Higher Education Department has not provided any grant to KIIT during the last financial year.
Meanwhile, BJP MLA Om Prakash Mishra wanted to know the details of retired IAS, IPS, and other government officers who are working in the KIIT, including their joining dates and salaries.
The minister said the data is being collected.
Protests over the student's death had rocked the KIIT campus in Bhubaneswar last month. The varsity authorities responded by evicting the protesting students, and dropping them at the Cuttack railway station without tickets to return, triggering a massive outrage.
A student of the varsity was arrested a day after the girl's body was found for alleged abatement to suicide.
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Trump’s fresh threat to bomb Iran amid reports of deal to end war
Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened Iran with more bombing if it doesn't reopen the Strait of Hormuz, amid a report that the warring sides were nearing an agreement to end the war.
US media outlet Axios reported, quoting US officials and two other sources, that the US and Iran were getting close to a one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war and set a framework for more detailed nuclear negotiations.
The US expects Iranian responses on several key points over the next 48 hours, Axios reported, adding that nothing has been agreed yet. This was the closest the parties had been to an agreement since the war began.
"Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end, and the highly effective Blockade will allow the Hormuz Strait to be OPEN TO ALL, including Iran," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
"If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before," Trump said.
According to Axios, the deal would involve Iran committing to a moratorium on nuclear enrichment, the US agreeing to lift its sanctions and release billions in frozen Iranian funds, and both sides lifting restrictions around transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
It said many of the terms laid out in the memo would be contingent on a final agreement being reached, leaving the possibility of renewed war or an extended limbo in which the hot war has stopped, but nothing is truly resolved.
