Odia girl’s death at IIT-Hyderabad: Family alleges murder, seeks CBI probe

Priya Ranjan Swain Published On : Aug 9, 2023 at 5:05 PM

Bhubaneswar: Two days after a girl from Odisha found hanging in her hostel room at IIT-Hyderabad, her family members on Wednesday suspected foul play in the incident.

The family members of Mamita Naik of Dumuri village in Sonepur district alleged that she might have been killed at the IIT-Hyderabad campus. They also alleged that Mamita might have faced ragging at the premier institute.

Woman postal employee found hanging in Odisha’s Ganjam; cops begin probe

Rescuer dies after being bitten by cobra at Odisha police station

“We could not believe that Mamita had died by suicide at IIT-Hyderabad. We suspect that she was killed at the campus. She might have also faced ragging at the institute,” said Mamita’s father Dukhishyam Naik.

Dukhishyam also rejected the Hyderabad police’s claim that Mamita had left a suicide note mentioning financial stress as the reason behind incident.

Mamita’s family members also alleged that at least eight students of IIT-Hyderabad have been found dead under mysterious circumstances in last six months. “None of the deceased students was a local. We suspect a bigger conspiracy behind the all these death cases. Perhaps, some people are trying the discourage students from other states to take admission at IIT-Hyderabad,” said one of Mamita’s relatives.

Mamita’s family members, meanwhile, said they have no faith in the investigation conducted by the Hyderabad police. They sought a probe by the CBI to unearth the truth behind the incident.

“Mamita was a bright student throughout her career. She had done well in Matric, Plus-II and B.Tech examinations. She had talked to us over phone a day before the incident. Mamita’s height was around 5 ft and height of the ceiling of her hostel room is around 12 ft. So, there is no truth in the claim that she had died by suicide. The CBI should probe the incident to find out the real cause behind her death,” said Mamita’s uncle.

Notably, Mamita, who had completed her B.Tech from VSSUT at Burla, took admission at IIT-Hyderabad in July this year to pursue M.Tech in Civil Engineering. The 21-year-old was found hanging in her hostel room on August 7.