IIT Bombay student suicide: Parents demand professor's immediate arrest

Prof. Suryanarayana Doolla, accused in the suicide of IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode, is yet to be summoned. Sahil's parents demand his arrest, while students and faculty staged demonstrations on campus in support of the professor.

Investigation Underway, Parents Demand Arrests

Professor Suryanarayana Doolla, the key accused in the alleged suicide of 20-year-old IIT Bombay BTech student Sahil Ravindra Wakode, has not yet been summoned, though his statement is expected to be recorded soon, a senior Mumbai Crime Branch source confirmed.

According to the sources, investigating officers are currently reviewing CCTV footage from the classroom, lobby, and campus premises to reconstruct the sequence of events. Additionally, statements from several students have already been recorded as part of the ongoing inquiry.

Earlier on Tuesday, Sahil’s parents, Ravindra and Sonali Wakode, visited the Mumbai Crime Branch, demanding the immediate arrest of named faculty members Professor Suryanarayana Doolla and Shireesh Kedare. Sahil’s parents, Ravindra and Sonali Wakode, demanded the immediate arrest of named faculty members Professor Suryanarayana Doolla and Shireesh Kedare.

"I came to the Crime Branch today. 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. I made a mistake by telling him this," said Ravindra Wakode, father of Sahil Wakode.

Students and Faculty Rally in Support of Professor

Meanwhile, hundreds of students at IIT Bombay staged a demonstration on the institute's campus on Tuesday in support of Professor Suryanarayana Doolla, who was recently relieved from the post of Dean of Student Affairs amid the ongoing inquiry into a student's death by suicide.

The IIT Bombay Faculty Forum also staged a campus march in support of Professor Doolla. The forum asserted that Doolla was simply fulfilling his duty as an invigilator when he reported an incident of "academic malpractice" involving unauthorised smartphone usage in line with Senate-approved guidelines.

Faculty Defends Professor's Actions

IIT Bombay Faculty Forum president Professor Dr Rajkumar S Pant also backed Professor Suryanarayana Doolla amid the investigation into the death by suicide of student Sahil Ravindra Wakode, saying Doolla acted as per institutional rules after seeing the student use a mobile phone during an examination.

The faculty forum president said that Sahil had never made any complaint to the SC Cell at the college regarding alleged caste discrimination. “Professor Doolla is not suspended as a professor of IIT Bombay, and he is still a teaching faculty member in our institution,” Professor Pant said in a detailed interview with ANI.

Sahil, a second-year BTech student of the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, was found dead in his hostel room later that day. The Crime Branch is now piecing together footage from different locations on the campus to establish Sahil's movements from the examination hall to the hostel and further examine the sequence of events preceding his death.

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