A first-year computer science student at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) allegedly hanged himself from the ceiling fan in his hostel room near here on Sunday night.
This is the third such incident at the deemed university within a year.
University sources said Rahul Yadav, 18, was under severe mental stress following alleged threats from the family members of a girl he was in a relationship with.
Police said the deceased, a native of Raipur in Chhattisgarh, was a first-year BTech student residing on Campus 10. He was found hanging around 10.45pm. His roommates were not present at the time of the incident.
According to preliminary inputs, the immediate trigger appeared to be a threatening phone call from the girl’s family.
The police have registered a case of unnatural death and are probing the “love angle”.
“The room, locked from inside, was opened in the presence of police officers under videography. The body was shifted to KIMS Hospital, where doctors declared him dead,” said a police source.
The investigators seized Rahul’s mobile phone and laptop. The hostel room has since been sealed.
The police said Rahul’s family was informed immediately and was on their way to Bhubaneswar. The inquest and post-mortem will be conducted after their arrival.
Commissioner of police S. Devdatta Singh and other senior officers visited the hostel, reviewed evidence and interacted with students to gather information on Rahul’s emotional state and the circumstances leading to his death.
Given the university’s fraught history with campus unrest following student suicides, one platoon of police personnel was deployed to maintain order.
In February, the death of a Nepali third-year BTech computer science student, Prakriti Lamsal, had triggered widespread protests, prompting intervention from the Nepali embassy.
On May 1, another undergraduate Nepali student, Prisha Shah, was found dead in her hostel room.
Following the two suicides, the UGC constituted a committee to examine psychosocial conditions and campus safeguards.
In a statement, KIIT University expressed deep concern and confirmed that a relationship dispute appeared central to Rahul’s death. “Even the parents of the boy have said that he was being threatened by the family members of the girl he was in love with. That drove him to suicide. His parents have decided to lodge a complaint against the family members of the girl,” the statement said.
The university said it would cooperate fully with the police investigation and urged students to reach out for counselling whenever needed.