Mumbai: On Friday, March 24, Darshan Solanki's father, Ramesh Solanki wrote a letter to the IIT Bombay Director in response to the interim report released by IIT-B's investigative committee.
Bashing the committee's report, Ramesh Solanki said that the probe held Darshan responsible for his own death.
'It is sheer disrespect to ignore the hardwork and dedication of a Dalit student who self-coached himself to gain admission in IIT using the space of his home and his mobile phone. The institute seems to blame my son for not knowing how to use computers and for not being conversant in English (sic),' he wrote.
Ramesh Solanki goes on to state that the IIT-B investigative committee had no external members or experts who could understand casteism inside the IIT. He further alleges that the committee never came to Ahmedabad to hear the statements from the Solanki family and only did it online.
He alleges that the testimonies of the wingmates, who only lived with Darshan for a few months, were given more importance than the testimonies of Darshan's family members.
Concluding his letter, Ramesh Solanki wrote that IIT Bombay cannot be a judge in its own right. The Committee is biased and was formed to save the face of IIT Bombay rather than to bring the truth to light.
He went on to say that the family's statements were not taken in writing and the committee created the report based on their suitability. 'The committee has done formality that they have taken our statements, but our statements are not reflected in the committee's report. We have been denied the principle of natural justice,' wrote Ramesh Solanki.
Last month, the Maharashtra government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Mumbai police's Joint CP ( Crime) to probe the alleged suicide of an 18-year-old Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) student.
Darshan Solanki, a resident of Gujarat's Ahmedabad, had allegedly committed suicide on February 12 by jumping off the seventh floor of the hostel building located on the campus, however, his parents had alleged caste discrimination resulting to his death.
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