IIT Bombay Student's Last Call, Caste Slur Claims And A Retracted Statement

A second-year student at IIT Bombay was found dead in his hostel room on the Powai campus last Friday, hours after he was reportedly caught using a mobile phone to access ChatGPT during a mid-semester examination.

Sahil Wokade, 22, was enrolled in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering. Sources said he spoke to a close friend over the phone at around 2:30 pm on the day of his death — the last conversation between them. He did not answer her calls afterwards.

According to sources, Wokade told the friend that he had "made a mistake", adding that his Thermodynamics paper had also not gone well. The friend, who is said to have suffered a panic attack on learning of his death, was later questioned and her statement recorded as part of the investigation. Sources said Wokade made no caste-related remarks and did not mention any caste-related incident during that call.

Earlier, while speaking with his parents, the student had complained that he was facing caste slurs and discrimination. His father advised him to be patient and endure it, pointing to the future ahead of him.

On Monday, the institute withdrew its earlier statements claiming that Wokade had cheated in an examination using ChatGPT and linking his death to it. In a post on X, it apologised for its earlier communication, saying the details and circumstances leading up to the incident remained subject to investigation by the appropriate authorities. It added that it was inappropriate to have set out or characterised the events preceding his death before they had been established through the proper investigative process.

Wokade's parents, Ravindra and Sonali Wakode, have been pressing for the immediate arrest of IIT Bombay Director Shirish Kedare and Professor Suryanarayan Doolla, who was removed as dean of Administrative Affairs after protests by students and political activists. Doolla, who was reportedly an invigilator during the examination and reported the alleged mobile phone use to the authorities, has been named in the FIR, which alleges abetment to suicide on grounds of caste discrimination. He has been charged under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Hundreds of students demonstrated on the campus on Tuesday in support of Doolla. The IIT Bombay Faculty Forum also held a campus march in his support, asserting that he was simply carrying out his duty as an invigilator by reporting an incident of academic malpractice involving unauthorised smartphone use, in line with Senate-approved guidelines.

On Wednesday, the Mumbai Police appealed to the public and the media to avoid speculation, misinformation or premature conclusions in connection with the death. The IIT Bombay Alumni Association demanded a fair and speedy investigation and said there should be no media trial, speculation or adverse conclusions directed at any individual.

The institute also set up a 10-member high-level committee on Wednesday to probe the circumstances surrounding the death.