The parents of 22-year-old IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode, who was found dead in his hostel room on September 18, said on Tuesday that he had previously told them about alleged caste-based discrimination by the professor who has now been named in the FIR registered in connection with his death.
In its statement Institute said, “The details and circumstances leading up to the incident remain subject to investigation by the appropriate authorities. In view of the ongoing investigation, it was inappropriate to have set out or characterised details relating to the events preceding his demise before they had been duly established through the appropriate investigative process. Professor Doolla has been named in the First Information Report filed by the Mumbai Police following a complaint filed by Wakode’s parents.
Authorities have booked a case of abetment to suicide and applied sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act after the family alleged caste-based harassment. The probe has now been handed over to the Mumbai Crime Branch.
I made a mistake by telling him this,” Sahil’s father said. “My request to everyone is to complete the investigation as soon as possible and arrest those who are involved, namely Shireesh Kedare and Suryanarayana Doolla. He was a smart student. Cracking the IIT Advanced exam is not a trivial matter. You can look at his All India rank. They will accuse him of anything wrong; they will say that he cheated. My request is to arrest them. He was suffering. I explained to him that my son should tolerate IIT a little, and after this, his whole life would be good.
