Prakriti Lamsal, however, echoes far beyond its walls—in Odisha, where students are protesting, and in Nepal, where government officials and student communities are demanding answers.
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Days after Prakriti’s death, her father, Sunil Lamsal, searches for answers. He holds on to his belief that India will ensure justice. “Since the era of Ramayan, both countries have maintained the roti-beti ka rishta,” he told TOI over the phone from Kathmandu on Wednesday. “I cannot be in Odisha for the entire duration of the probe, but I am confident that the Indian government will do what it needs to.”
The roti-beti ka rishta—a deep connection between India and Nepal through trade and marriages—has always brought people of the two countries together, Lamsal said, repeating the phrase as if to reinforce his hope. His 20-year-old daughter, Prakriti, was one such connection. A third-year computer science student at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), she had left her home in Bhairahawa, just 5 km from the Indian border near Gorakhpur, to pursue a future in India. She had promised to return as an engineer.
Prakriti’s family first heard about KIIT through university-led events in Kathmandu. Her cousins, Anurodh and Siddhant, were also students there—she and Anurodh in computer science,