IIT Bombay Student Suicide: Initial Probe Finds No Evidence Against Professor

An initial investigation into the death of a second-year BTech student at IIT Bombay has not yet turned up concrete evidence linking a professor to an abetment to suicide case, people with direct knowledge of the matter have said. The student, Sahil Ravindra Wakode, was found dead in his hostel room on campus.

The sources said the probe has also not found any eyewitness or material that could confirm allegations that casteist remarks were made against Wakode. They added that no conclusion has been reached on the allegations and that investigators are examining all available evidence.

CCTV footage recovered from the campus and taken for analysis shows the professor and exam invigilator, Suryanarayana Doolla, asking the student to leave the examination hall after he was allegedly caught cheating. Other cameras in the building captured him walking out of the hall and heading to his room in the campus hostel.

According to police sources, eyewitnesses told investigators that Doolla was assigned examination and supervision duty on the day of the incident. During the exam, he allegedly saw Wakode with a mobile phone and asked him to step outside the classroom. The student was then taken to the office of the head of department, where another professor was also present, as per statements recorded by the police.

The Crime Branch has questioned Doolla as well as the two other professors who were present during the subsequent interaction with the student. Footage from the examination hall and other parts of the campus is being used to reconstruct the sequence of events. The Crime Branch said the investigation is still at an early stage.

Wakode's family has alleged that he faced institutional harassment and caste-based discrimination on campus, which they say led him to take his own life. They have filed a case under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, alleging discrimination.

Meanwhile, the IIT Bombay Faculty Forum has expressed solidarity with Doolla, who has since been removed as dean of students welfare. He has not been suspended, but stepped down from the post to ensure a fair investigation.

A close friend of Wakode said he strongly believes the allegations of casteism reported in some sections of the media are not true. On what happened on exam day, the friend said Wakode was "caught cheating" and that the professor took him outside the room. The institute said the disciplinary action committee was not imposed on him, the friend added.