Mumbai: Sahil Wakode’s father said on Monday that he would continue his hunger strike until IIT Bombay professor Suryanarayana Doolla and institute director Shireesh Kedare were arrested. On the tenth day of his protest at Azad Maidan, he also said that no member of the institute’s inquiry panel had contacted the family.
Father Seeks Arrests
“Until both are arrested, my hunger strike will continue,” he said. Asked about the rules requiring protesters to leave Azad Maidan at a specified time, he said he would comply with them while continuing his fast.
Wakode’s father said he had met an SC/ST commission official, but no government delegation had visited him. Political leaders had come to express support, he said. Members of the family of Darshan Solanki, an IIT Bombay student who died in 2023, had also visited, though he said they had not spoken at length.
Calls For Detailed Probe
He urged investigators to examine the allegations of caste-based harassment and abetment of suicide in the police case. “This case is not simply about whether Sahil took a phone into an examination or copied,” he said. “Why was he driven to take his life, and how did it happen? That needs to be investigated.” The allegations against those named in the case remain under investigation.
Earlier this month a CCTV footage had circulated, Wakode’s father said he would not comment on its contents while the inquiry was under way. “Such footage should not have come out. It is part of the investigation, and the investigation will establish what happened,” he said. He added that the Crime Branch should determine how the footage became public.
“I have given my statement. I have not spoken to the police about the status of the investigation since then,” he said, adding that he would cooperate fully with investigators. “I want justice. I am not sitting here because I am happy to do so.”
Sahil, a second-year BTech student, was found dead in his hostel room earlier this month. IIT Bombay later removed Doolla from his administrative position as Dean of Administrative Affairs pending investigation. The institute also apologised for its earlier communication describing events preceding Sahil’s death before they had been established by investigators.
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