Mumbai: Darshan Solanki's suicide death case has taken another turn, in the latest developments, the father of deceased student has written a letter to the SIT requesting them to investigate the caste discrimination faced by Darshan Solanki in the campus. His father, Ramesh Bhai Solanki has also requested that the cloned copies of Darshan's electronic devices be returned to the family.
In the letter, Solanki's father has mentioned incidents which the deceased student came across while studying at IIT Bombay. His father has made allegations of caste discrimination in these incidents faced by Darshan Solanki.
The first alleged incident in the letter is of Solanki's chat with another user on Instagram, which allegedly took place on 7th February 2023, just a few days before Darshan's demise. An Instagram user had asked Darshan of his JEE rank, when Darshan told his rank, the user from other end conceded that with such rank, he (Darshan) wouldn't have got admission in IIT-B, if being from general category.
Ramesh Solanki writes, "I am really concerned about Darshan's apprehension about another person not liking him. It is telling of the fact that in Darshan's experience in IIT-B, people stopped liking him after they learned that he was a reserved category student. This yet another evidence of caste discrimination faced by Solanki in a line of so many that have already been revealed which show that he was isolated, taunted and ostracized due to his caste."
In the letter to SIT, the father adds, "the testimonies of Uday Singh Meena, a student at IIT-B, and my family members, including Darshan's sister, Janvi Solanki, and his aunt, Divyaben Solanki have emphasized that Darshan was being harassed because of his caste."
His father further stated in the letter that Darshan wanted to change his room because of the harassment faced from his roommate (allegedly).
Ramesh Solanki continues allegations against his (Darshan) peers, alleging that they mocked him for his questions about the know-how of computer, electronic gadgets and other subject matters.
He adds, "On knowing Darshan's caste, they ostracized him, reduced their interaction with him, and humiliated him for belonging to SC category. Darshan had confided to his sister Janvi that when his peers learned that he is from the SC community. They would call him out and say... 'dalit aaya..dalit aaya' (look the dalit is here)"
"His classmate from the SC (category) has mentioned to the IIT Bombay internal committee that Darshan being sensitive about his caste and often thought about what others would think about a reserved category student studying in an institute like IIT Bombay," adds Darshan's father.
He requests, "I once again appeal to the SIT to investigate this matter. I am persuaded that Darshan was killed / pushed to commit suicide because of the harassment he faced as a reserved category."
He also requested SIT to provided him the clone copies of the seized electronic devices, "I fear that more such instances that show he has faced caste-based discrimination will be buried under the guise of investigation," said Ramesh Solanki.
