The Crossbill News Desk
Mumbai Police have registered a case against IIT Bombay faculty member Suryanarayan Dulla following the death of 22-year-old Dalit student Sahil Wakode, with the student’s father alleging caste-based harassment and abetment to suicide. The case was registered on Saturday (September 19), a day after Sahil was found dead in his hostel room on the institute campus.
Sahil, a second-year BTech student of Energy Science, was allegedly caught using a mobile phone during an examination shortly before his death. IIT Bombay, in its initial statement, said the student had uploaded the third-semester examination question paper on ChatGPT to seek answers and died by suicide after being caught.
The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by Sahil’s father, Chakradhar Wakode. Dulla, who is associated with the Energy Science department, has been booked under provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and for abetment to suicide.
“When Sahil was studying in the second year, when I met him, he said that for the last three months, on the instructions of Director Shri Shireesh B. Kedare, faculty member Suryanarayan Dulla had been abusing him using caste terms. Mr. Dulla told him that he was from a ‘lower caste and he [Mr. Dulla] can harass him and implicate him in any false case.’ After that, I gave him mental support,” Chakradhar said in the FIR.
The complaint also referred to the involvement of “other senior officers” besides Dulla.
According to a student who was present in the same building during the examination, Sahil was allegedly caught by Dulla after using his phone and was threatened with debarment. He was also asked to attend a meeting the following day regarding the incident, the student said. Sahil subsequently left the examination hall and was later found dead in his room in Hostel 4, The Wire reported.
The incident sparked protests on the IIT Bombay campus, with around 400 students gathering by late evening on Friday and the number rising to more than 1,000 by midnight. The protest continued on September 19.
Sahil’s parents, Sonali and Ravindra, reached the campus on September 19 and reportedly refused to claim his body until a case was registered against Dulla. When they approached the Powai police station, their demand was turned down and they were escorted out in a police van. While leaving, Sonali, visibly distressed, accused the institute of “killing” her son.
The family later went to Rajawadi Hospital, where Sahil’s body had been kept following the post-mortem.
Sahil’s death is the third reported student suicide at IIT Bombay this year. Naman Aggrawal, a second-year civil engineering student, died on February 4, while materials engineering student Sohil Rajkumar Sangwan died on July 28. In 2023, 18-year-old Darshan Solanki, a first-year BTech student from Gujarat who belonged to the Dalit community, died after allegedly jumping from a hostel building.
The latest case has once again raised questions about the pressures faced by students at elite educational institutions and the experiences of students from marginalised communities.
Government data submitted to Parliament shows that of 122 suicides reported between 2014 and 2021 across IITs, IIMs and Union-run universities, 58% involved students from Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, OBC and minority communities. The figures included 24 SC students, three ST students and 41 OBC students.
At the same time, the government has said it does not have information establishing how many SC and ST students who died by suicide did so because of social discrimination.
The police investigation into the allegations against Dulla and the circumstances surrounding Sahil’s death is now underway, while the protests at IIT Bombay have brought renewed attention to student safety, academic pressure and allegations of caste discrimination within higher educational institutions.
Sahil, a second-year BTech student of Energy Science, was allegedly caught using a mobile phone during an examination shortly before his death. IIT Bombay, in its initial statement, said the student had uploaded the third-semester examination question paper on ChatGPT to seek answers and died by suicide after being caught.
The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by Sahil’s father, Chakradhar Wakode. Dulla, who is associated with the Energy Science department, has been booked under provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and for abetment to suicide.
“When Sahil was studying in the second year, when I met him, he said that for the last three months, on the instructions of Director Shri Shireesh B. Kedare, faculty member Suryanarayan Dulla had been abusing him using caste terms. Mr. Dulla told him that he was from a ‘lower caste and he [Mr. Dulla] can harass him and implicate him in any false case.’ After that, I gave him mental support,” Chakradhar said in the FIR.
The complaint also referred to the involvement of “other senior officers” besides Dulla.
According to a student who was present in the same building during the examination, Sahil was allegedly caught by Dulla after using his phone and was threatened with debarment. He was also asked to attend a meeting the following day regarding the incident, the student said. Sahil subsequently left the examination hall and was later found dead in his room in Hostel 4, The Wire reported.
The incident sparked protests on the IIT Bombay campus, with around 400 students gathering by late evening on Friday and the number rising to more than 1,000 by midnight. The protest continued on September 19.
Sahil’s parents, Sonali and Ravindra, reached the campus on September 19 and reportedly refused to claim his body until a case was registered against Dulla. When they approached the Powai police station, their demand was turned down and they were escorted out in a police van. While leaving, Sonali, visibly distressed, accused the institute of “killing” her son.
The family later went to Rajawadi Hospital, where Sahil’s body had been kept following the post-mortem.
Sahil’s death is the third reported student suicide at IIT Bombay this year. Naman Aggrawal, a second-year civil engineering student, died on February 4, while materials engineering student Sohil Rajkumar Sangwan died on July 28. In 2023, 18-year-old Darshan Solanki, a first-year BTech student from Gujarat who belonged to the Dalit community, died after allegedly jumping from a hostel building.
The latest case has once again raised questions about the pressures faced by students at elite educational institutions and the experiences of students from marginalised communities.
Government data submitted to Parliament shows that of 122 suicides reported between 2014 and 2021 across IITs, IIMs and Union-run universities, 58% involved students from Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, OBC and minority communities. The figures included 24 SC students, three ST students and 41 OBC students.
At the same time, the government has said it does not have information establishing how many SC and ST students who died by suicide did so because of social discrimination.
The police investigation into the allegations against Dulla and the circumstances surrounding Sahil’s death is now underway, while the protests at IIT Bombay have brought renewed attention to student safety, academic pressure and allegations of caste discrimination within higher educational institutions.
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