IIT Bombay Panel To Submit Report In A Week As Students Press For Fair Probe Into Sahil Wakode’s Death

Mumbai: Students at IIT Bombay continued to demand a fair investigation into the death of second-year student Sahil Wakode, even as a committee set up by the institute is expected to submit its report within a week. A handful of students maintained a sit-in on campus on Wednesday and said they would monitor the institute’s response to their 18-point charter of demands.

“We demand that Prof Doolla should be stripped of his professorship. Until then, we will continue to protest,” said a student. Professor Suryanarayana Doolla has been relieved of his administrative post as Dean of Administrative Affairs and sent on a week-long leave. Students have continued to seek action against him.

Panel Headed By IIT Palakkad Board Chairman

The committee is headed by Professor Ramesh Venkateswaran, chairman of the Board of Governors at IIT Palakkad. Its members include IIT Bombay faculty, students, an administrator, a former vigilance officer and a psychiatrist.

The IIT Bombay faculty members are Professor K Narayanan of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor Sandip Kumar Saha of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Professor Deepti Kalsi of the Department of Chemistry. Saha is also the convener of the institute’s SC/ST Students and Staff Cell.

The student representatives are Aditya Joshi, general secretary of hostel affairs; Dev Arora, overall coordinator of the Student Mentor Programme; and research scholar Devi Lal. Retired IAS officer Vishwanath Giriraj, former institute vigilance officer Professor K G Suresh of the Department of Physics, and psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty are also on the panel.

Students Demand Independent Probe And Better Support Systems

Students’ demands cover an independent inquiry, changes to grievance redressal and stronger mental health support. “The counselling hours on the campus have been increased and campus life looks like it is going back to normal. But we will strictly adhere to the deadline given to the Director next month,” a student said.

IIT Bombay has also issued a revised timetable for the mid-semester examinations, which were cancelled amid unrest following Wakode’s death. The exams are scheduled to begin on September 25.

Wakode’s family has alleged that he faced caste-based harassment. The Mumbai Police crime branch is investigating the case, including events surrounding an examination before his death. His parents had been expected to begin a fast on Wednesday but called it off. The family had not publicly clarified the reason at the time of reporting.

ABVP Calls For Inquiry Before Action

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) called for a thorough investigation and said action should be taken against anyone found responsible. Its national general secretary, Virendra Singh Solanki, said action before the facts were established would be inappropriate.

Meanwhile, Legal Rights Observatory head Vinay Joshi has emailed a complaint to the Mumbai Police alleging that professors and advocates were stirring caste tensions and spreading false information. The allegations in the complaint have not been established.

In an email on campus inclusion, Doolla said IIT Bombay wanted students to bond “irrespective of their caste, religion or scores”. The institute’s anti-discrimination guidelines, first circulated in 2023, discourage students from asking one another about their caste, admission category or examination ranks.

Outside the Powai campus, Youth Congress workers and members of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) continued to raise slogans. At a “Justice for Sahil” demonstration, VBA leader Sujaat Ambedkar described Wakode’s death as “nothing but institutional murder”, said Sujaat Ambedkar. The circumstances of the death remain under investigation.

Campus entry was restricted for outsiders on Wednesday. The restriction extended to food deliveries, with students asked to walk to the main gate to collect their orders.

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