IIT Bombay Suicide: Students Demand Systemic Reforms, Clarify Stand On Prof Dooll | Best Update | Today’s news
IIT Bombay student representatives on Tuesday issued an official statement clarifying the main thrust of their recent campus protests, which were triggered after the death of second-year BTech student Sahil Wakode.
Wakode (22), a second-year BTech student in the Department of Energy Sciences and Engineering, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his hostel room at IIT Bombay’s Powai campus on September 18 evening.
It resulted in student protests and a police case against the professor under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act based on his parents’ complaint of alleged caste discrimination and harassment.
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The protests were triggered by the tragic death of second year BTech student Sahil Wakode, who was found dead in his hostel room. Students demanded systemic reforms and accountability within the institute following allegations of caste discrimination and harassment surrounding the circumstances of his death.
The representatives clarified that their protests aim to raise awareness of systemic problems within the institution and push for reforms to prevent future tragedies, stressing that they do not tolerate cheating or academic misconduct.
The IIT Bombay administration acknowledged the students’ demands through a live meeting, saying it would review the charter of more than 18 demands put forward by the protesters, but rejected calls for immediate action such as the suspension of Professor Doolla.
The students are calling for mandatory mental health awareness for faculty and staff as part of a broader call for systemic reforms to address student well-being and prevent future suicides.
Student representatives requested that Doolla be relieved of his duties as dean of administrative affairs during the investigation to ensure he remains independent and emphasized the importance of impartiality in the investigative process.
The student body emphasized that their demonstrations were a push for systemic institutional reforms and urged that this should not be misconstrued as an endorsement of academic misconduct.
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“We do not condone academic misconduct”
In relation to the circumstances leading up to Wakode’s death, representatives have been firm in their stance on the alleged rehearsal incident.
“We do not stand for or condone cheating or any form of academic misconduct,” the official statement said. “The loss of our classmate Sahil is also a deeply tragic event that has made us reflect on the systems and processes at our institute.”
They clarified that the subsequent student protests were not intended to justify the cheating, but rather served as a “collective effort to heighten concerns about systemic problems” and to demand meaningful reforms to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
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“We stand with Professor Doolla, but…”
The statement also addressed the students’ demands regarding Professor Suryanarayan Doolla, who was the invigilator during the exam incident. Deputies stressed that they are not assuming guilt or prejudging the ongoing investigation.
“We stand behind Professor Doolla as a member of our faculty community and believe that the investigation must be conducted fairly and impartially,” the statement said.
The students clarified their specific administrative request, explaining that they were only seeking to have Doolla relieved of his duties as dean of administrative affairs while the investigation is active. They said it was only a “precautionary measure to ensure that the investigation remains completely independent and cannot be influenced in any way”.
“Not a platform for outside political interests”
Representatives appreciated the recent open house held with the director and management of the institute and expressed satisfaction at having a direct platform to voice their concerns. Crucially, the student body flatly rejected any outside political involvement in the matter.
“As students, we believe that concerns arising from this tragedy must remain student-led and addressed within the Institute,” the statement read. “The loss of Sahil should not become a platform for outside political interests, organizations or stories to shape the concerns of the IIT Bombay student community.”
The representatives concluded by insisting that the ongoing process of institutional reform must remain deeply rooted in the student community and the institution itself.
Read also | IIT-B denies case against student after FIR filed alleging abetment of suicide
Targeting individual professors ‘totally wrong’
Speaking to news agency PTI, several students from IIT Bombay said the focus on an individual professor was “totally wrong”.
“I think students don’t agree with the way Professor Suryanarayana Doolla is being treated. The caste angle portrayed in the media is wrong and non-existent,” claimed one student.
The dismissal of Professor Doola as Dean (Administrative Affairs) is completely wrong because he was doing his job, he argued.
Another student dismissed media reports of caste discrimination and said, “There is no discrimination based on caste in the institute. Therefore, media reports of caste bias in IIT Bombay are completely wrong.”
However, some students also alleged that Professor Doolla had a history of suspending students for what they described as trivial reasons and evicting them from the hostels.
Students said the actions taken during Professor Doolla’s tenure as dean of student affairs had created a sense of fear, adding that based on his past record, they believed he could have ordered the suspension if they spoke up after the incident.
