The pressure from students is increasing for action in the case of the death of IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode on 18 September.
After Sahil's death, IIT Bombay has removed Professor Suryanarayan Dulla from the post of Dean of Administrative Affairs. The media co-ordinator of IIT Bombay gave this information on September 21.
On the other hand, demands have also started for not taking any action against Professor Dulla. Professors of IIT Bombay also took out a march in support of Dulla.
On September 18, the body of second-year student Sahil Wakode was found in his room. After this the students protested.
After Sahil's death, his parents lodged a police complaint.
It was alleged in the complaint that Sahil was facing caste-based abuse and harassment, due to which he committed suicide.
But IIT Bombay has denied the allegations of caste abuse against Sahil.
In its statement, IIT Bombay said that Sahil was caught cheating in the examination. However, he later apologized and said that the investigation into the matter is ongoing.
Sahil's mother Sonali Wakode and father Ravindra Wakode sat on a hunger strike at Azad Maidan in Mumbai on Thursday demanding justice for their son.
However, when he did not get permission from the administration, he left from there.
Speaking to BBC Marathi, Ravindra Wakode said, "My son was not a boy who committed suicide. If he had committed suicide then why was the footage of that day not released."
He said, "We are demanding justice. Appropriate action should be taken against anyone found guilty in the investigation."
Sahil Wakode's mother said, "We were not even waited for my son's postmortem. What was the hurry? A mother is demanding justice for her son so that such an incident does not happen to anyone else.
Meanwhile, a police complaint has been lodged against Professor Dulla and IIT officials in this matter.
Sahil's parents have filed a complaint against the professor accusing him of abetting suicide and using casteist slurs.
On the other hand, Bombay IIT Faculty Forum has expressed grief over the death of the student and also expressed support towards the teacher.
Professor Dulla has been removed from the post of Dean. At the same time, IIT Bombay Director Professor Shirish Kedare has clarified that he has not resigned.
Responding to news agency ANI, Wakode's lawyer Nikhil Kamble said, "Our client is hopeful that the people made accused in this case will be arrested. The arrest of the concerned accused is necessary to take the investigation forward."
He said, "We have no comment on the claims being made on different forums. Such claims will come and go and there is no point in reacting to every statement. Our demand is that this matter should be investigated impartially and the culprits should be arrested."
"We're trying to get justice for that boy and we want justice," he said.
BBC Marathi tried to contact Rajkumar Pant, Faculty Head of IIT Bombay in this matter, but has not been able to contact him yet.
IIT Bombay has apologized for the statement issued after the death of IIT student Sahil Wakode.
IIT Bombay tweeted from its official X account on September 21, "We apologize for the statement made regarding the circumstances surrounding Sahil's unfortunate death."
IIT had given detailed information about the events that took place before Sahil's death.
Apologizing for this, IIT had said, "The details of the events and circumstances preceding Sahil's death are being investigated. The concerned authorities are investigating it."
IIT had said, "Any conclusion will be reached only after a thorough investigation and the exact cause of his death."
The body of 20-year-old Sahil Wakode, an energy science and engineering student at IIT Bombay, was found in his room on the evening of September 18.
Following this, students protested at the IIT Bombay campus, raising the issue of transparency and security in the education system.
As soon as information about the incident was received, Sahil's family reached Mumbai on 19 September. Sahil's father Ravindra Wakode lodged a complaint against IIT professors and officials at Powai police station.
Sahil's parents said in the complaint, "The director and teachers of the institution subjected our son to caste-based abuse and mental harassment, due to which he was forced to take his life."
Sahil's father also said in the complaint that Sahil had told him that he was being harassed for the last few days.
According to the complaint, Sahil was being harassed on the basis of caste for the last three months.
IIT Bombay issued a press release on the evening of 19 September stating that a second year student had committed suicide in the evening.
The student wrote the answers to the questions with the help of his mobile phone during the examination.
IIT said in its statement that the student had uploaded the questions on ChatGPT.
IIT said in a statement, "No disciplinary action was taken against the student. After the incident, the instructor and the head of the department spoke to the student. The head of the department explained to him and also assured him that this incident will not have any adverse impact on his career."
After this the student went to his room, where he was later found dead.
IIT said that it is deeply saddened by the death of the student. The statement said that the IIT Bombay administration will provide full cooperation to the concerned authorities in the investigation. Also, everyone has been appealed to respect the privacy of the family of the deceased student.
The IIT Bombay administration has also appealed that no speculation should be made until the investigation continues.
IIT teachers had also issued a statement in this matter.
The Faculty Forum of IIT supported Dulla and said that Professor Suryanarayan Dulla had stopped a student from misbehaving during the examination.
The Faculty Forum of IIT Bombay said, "We are saddened by the death of an IIT student and share the grief of the family. We stand with our colleague Professor Suryanarayan Dulla. He was fulfilling his responsibilities under the academic policies approved by the Senate."
“During the mid-semester examination, Professor Dulla, the teacher of the concerned subject, was conducting the examination. During this time he saw that a student was using a smartphone. He took action as per the rules of the examination and informed the institute authorities about the incident.
The Faculty Forum of IIT Bombay said that it is saddened by the attempts to malign his image after the incident that occurred while he was discharging his responsibilities.
Talking to the media about this incident, DCP Dattatraya Nalawade had said on September 19 that a student committed suicide in IIT Powai.
He said, "After this incident, some students of IIT united and started protesting for their demands."
He further said, "The IIT administration tried to find an amicable solution to the matter by talking to the students. The police had also made all necessary arrangements for security here."
"Sahil was a second year B.Tech student. An ADR has been registered in the matter and the police is investigating further.
He said, “This is not the first such incident. There have been four such incidents this year, two of which have happened in the last two months. We have been kept completely in the dark as to why this is happening or what are the reasons behind it."
The protesting student said, “All we want is that the dean, director and administration submit a report. In this, he should investigate the entire matter, ensure accountability and transparency and guarantee that such incidents will not happen again during his tenure."
After this demonstration, Dr. Suryanarayan Dulla has now been removed from the post of Dean.
