The National Human Rights Commission on Monday ordered an on-spot inquiry into the death of a Nepali student, reportedly by suicide, at Odisha’s Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology on February 16, The Indian Express reported.

The commission is also probing the alleged misconduct by the university’s management toward those protesting the death.

An order issued by the commission said that a three-member team, comprising its Registrar (Law) along with two officers from the investigation division, had been constituted to conduct the inquiry as per provisions of the Protection of Human Rights Act.

The order added that one of the officers from the investigation division should not be below the rank of Superintendent of Police, while the other must be from the law division. The team has been asked to submit the inquiry report by March 10.

The 20-year-old student was found dead in the university hostel on February 16. The third-year Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science student was believed to have died by suicide due to a suspected “strained relationship” and the harassment that she allegedly faced from a male batchmate on campus.

On February 17, the Bhubaneswar Police arrested the 21-year-old man from Lucknow in connection with the alleged suicide. The first information report in the case alleges that he was blackmailing the Nepali student.

The student’s death had triggered tensions on campus. About 500 Nepali students at the university claimed that they had been forcibly evicted from campus on February 17 for protesting their batchmate’s death.

As protests escalated, the university administration had announced that the campus was closed for Nepali students, instructing them to vacate immediately, according to reports. Subsequently, Nepali students were told to board buses and were dropped at several railway stations for them to return home.

However, the order asking students to vacate the campus was revoked on February 17 amid pressure as the incident had triggered a diplomatic row between Kathmandu and New Delhi.

A case has also been registered against Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology officials for allegedly manhandling students from Nepal who were protesting the incident.

On Monday, the National Human Rights Commission issued the inquiry into the death and the subsequent developments based on a complaint registered by a Bhubaneswar resident named Ashutosh B, The Indian Express reported.

In his complaint, Ashutosh alleged that the Nepali student reportedly died by suicide after being harassed by another student. The International Relations Office at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology also neglected her complaints, “contributing to her suicide”, he claimed.

The complaint said that the protestors seeking justice for her were met with “verbal abuse, threats, and physical assault by KIIT [Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology] officials and security guards.”

In addition, Ashutosh also claimed that Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, along with Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, exploited children from tribal communities by violating their human rights and engaging in illegal land acquisitions, The Indian Express reported.

According to the complaint, a 2017 Child Welfare Committee report highlighted poor living conditions at Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, including overcrowding, unclean facilities and lack of basic amenities.

Ashutosh urged the commission to take action against the officials of the university.

In February, Nepal’s National Human Rights Commission had urged its Indian counterpart to conduct an investigation into the alleged suicide and ensure the safety of students from the country in the university, The Indian Express reported.

The Odisha government had also set up a fact-finding commission, led by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Satyabrata Sahu, to investigate the circumstances of the death of the student, the alleged misconduct by the university administration and the reasons for the institute to have directed Nepali students to vacate the campus.