Mumbai: Just weeks after The National Commission for Scheduled Caste (NCSC) dropped its inquiry into the suicide of IIT Bombay student Darshan Solanki citing the matter as 'sub judice’, his family has demanded the Commission to reopen the investigation.
“We want the NCSC to reopen the investigation as soon as possible. We also wrote a letter to them last week regarding the same though there has been no positive response yet,” Ramesh Solanki, Darshan’s father, told The Free Press Journal.
Solanki, who was a first-year Btech student at the IIT Powai campus, jumped to death from the seventh floor of his hostel building on February 12.
Following his death, many organisations including Darshan’s parents alleged caste-based discrimination against the student at the institute. In a letter to the Special Investigation Team (SIT), Darshan’s father recalled several incidents wherein his son was discriminated against for being a Dalit.
"On knowing Darshan's caste, they ostracised him, reduced their interaction with him, and humiliated him for belonging to the SC category. Darshan had confided in his sister Janvi when his peers learned that he is from the SC community,” the letter, which was seen by The FPJ, had said.
Though the Mumbai Police made an arrest in the case, wherein Darshan’s batchmate Arman Khatri was taken into custody under sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, for allegedly threatening Darshan before his death, Darshan’s father believes the primary concern at hand is being sidelined.
“We don’t want to interact with the student (Arman) or take up our concerns regarding him. We are highlighting the problems with caste at the institute,” asserted Ramesh.
Though the SIT filed a 473-page chargesheet in the case before the Special SC/ST Court on May 30, Darshan’s father says he received the report only a week ago.
“The police officials were told to provide us with the chargesheet in June itself but they delayed it and didn’t send it within 2-3 days as mandated. They refused to even courier it as we are in Ahmedabad, eventually, we sent someone from here to collect it,” stated Ramesh.
Darshan’s documents, which include his mark sheets, certificates, and other important papers, remain with the Mumbai Police, with his family urging the officials to return them since they believe the documents are not key to the investigation.
“We will raise the matter in the court during the next hearing on August 4,” added Ramesh.
A 20-year-old Btech student Ayush, who was a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareilly, also died by suicide at IIT Delhi on July 9. Many of his batchmates, student groups, and family members have alleged that the student being a scheduled caste member led to his sudden death.
A spokesperson from IIT Delhi refused to comment on the matter, when The FPJ reached out, adding that the case is being probed by the Delhi Police.
