IIT Bombay student death: Protests continue, but dissenting voices emerge as Crime Branch probes the suicide

Four days after IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode died by suicide, the Mumbai Police Crime Branch is examining CCTV footage from the examination hall and hostel as investigators seek to establish a timeline of events leading up to his death.

The probe comes amid continuing protests over the 22-year-old student's death and allegations by his family of institutional harassment and caste-based discrimination. At the same time, some voices have emerged from within and outside the institute, questioning some of the allegations and the continued protests.

Wakode, a second-year BTech student in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, was found hanging in his hostel room on the Powai campus on September 18. According to officials, he had allegedly been caught using a mobile phone to access ChatGPT during a mid-semester examination earlier that day.

The IIT Bombay administration on Monday removed Professor Suryanarayana Doolla as Dean of Administrative Affairs following protests by students and political activists. A case of abetment and caste discrimination has also been registered against him.

As the investigation continues, the Crime Branch is analysing CCTV footage from both the examination hall and the hostel to piece together Wakode's movements and the sequence of events before his death.

IIT Bombay Faculty Forum president Rajkumar Pant, meanwhile, said Wakode had not approached the institute's SC/ST cell with any complaint in the recent past.

Pant also came out in support of Doolla, saying the professor was generally helpful towards students and was not someone who would engage in harassment. He stressed that institute rules clearly prohibit cheating and argued that overlooking the misuse of facilities would be unfair to students who follow the rules.

Protests continue

The controversy continued to play out outside the institute on Tuesday, as activists protested over the death. The protesters carried placards, raised slogans and demanded justice for Wakode as well as the resignation of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

"Protesters from the Bharat Mukti Morcha gathered outside the main campus gate without permission. They were immediately removed from the spot, taken into preventive custody, and brought to the Powai police station for further legal proceedings," a senior police official said.

Meanwhile, opinion among students over the continuing agitation is not uniform.

Utkarsh Gangwar, a mechanical engineering student at IIT Bombay, rejected allegations of caste-based discrimination at the institute, although he acknowledged resentment among some students over Doolla's strict rules. "There is no caste-based discrimination against students at IIT Bombay. However, there is some resentment among students regarding Professor Suryanarayana Doolla, as his strict rules occasionally cause discomfort," he claimed, according to news agency PTI.

Gangwar also questioned the need for the protests to continue, saying the institute's director had already accepted 18 key demands put forward by students.

"Those still protesting may be influenced by external political groups," he alleged.

IIT Bombay alumnus and activist Sudheendra Kulkarni called for the withdrawal of the case against Doolla under the SC/ST Act.

Kulkarni claimed the law had been widely misused and called for a broader national debate on its reform.

He argued that student suicides at higher education institutions can have varying causes and said it would be wrong to automatically assign guilt on the basis of caste when a student belongs to an SC or ST community. He described such an approach as "reverse casteism".

Kulkarni also warned that punishing a faculty member for carrying out duties in accordance with institutional rules could create fear among other teachers.