Mumbai: The parents of Sahil Wakode, an IIT Bombay student who died by suicide on the institute’s campus, have alleged that the administration and authorities have failed to give his death the attention it deserves, contrasting the response to his case with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s meeting with actor Tiger Shroff after a firing incident at the actor’s residence on Sunday night.
“Along with students and the youth of the country, we have been fighting and protesting over these issues, yet no one from the administration has taken cognisance of them. Whereas the Deputy Chief Minister met the actor almost immediately,” said Ravindra Wakode, Sahil’s father.
Family seeks investigation progress report
The family has also written to the Chief Minister’s Office seeking an update on the investigation. “We demand a progress report on the investigation. Neither the Crime Branch nor the institute’s inquiry committee has shared a preliminary report with us. If such reports have been prepared, we have not received them,” said Siddharth Ingale, the family’s lawyer.
The family has also sought a change in the investigating officer, alleging that the probe has been one-sided and has focused primarily on cheating allegations, while the issue of caste-based discrimination has not been adequately investigated. Ingale also questioned why provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act had not been invoked.
The lawyer further alleged that the leak of CCTV footage, an apology letter and other details to the public raised questions about the confidentiality and conduct of the investigation.
Student accounts raise further questions
The family said it had received several messages from students over the past 30 days that could be relevant to the allegations against the professor. “One student saw Sahil on the second floor, outside the administrative office, with Professor Doolla, the prime accused in the case. The professor was allegedly shouting at the student,” Ravindra Wakode said.
Ingale said there were gaps in the sequence of events between 12.38 pm, when Sahil left his classroom, and the evening, when he died. The family has sought clarity on whether the police have retrieved CCTV footage from the second floor, where students allegedly heard Professor Doolla and heads of departments speaking with Sahil.
“Students have also claimed that Sahil was heard refusing to sign the apology letter,” Ingale said.
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Questions over police investigation
Questioning the progress of the probe, the family and its lawyer asked how the police had established whom Sahil last spoke to if his phone had not yet been unlocked. They also questioned why the professor had not been arrested despite being booked for abetment to suicide.
The family said the lack of clarity surrounding these aspects had prompted its demand for a change in the investigating officer.
Other families join hunger strike
The hunger strike has also received support from the families of other students who died by suicide. The mother of Aniket Ambhore, who died by suicide in 2014, joined the protest in solidarity with the Wakode family.
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