Mumbai: Students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay have demanded changes in the institute’s student welfare system and greater focus on mental health, citing concerns raised in the wake of the Sahil Wakode suic*de case.
They also said that targeting one professor over the case was “completely wrong”.
Wakode (22), a second-year BTech student in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his hostel room on the IIT Bombay’s Powai campus September 18 evening, hours after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone to access ChatGPT during a mid-semester examination.
The incident sparked student protests on the campus.
The Mumbai Police have booked Prof Suryanarayana Doolla, who has been removed as the dean of Administrative Affairs, under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Section 108 (abetment of suic*de) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, following a complaint lodged by Sahil’s family.
“Even if students differ on the issue, we all agree on one thing: changes need to be brought in student welfare, including the wellness cell, psychiatrist support, and similar areas. Students’ voices should be heard when decisions are made,” a student said Monday.
“But, I think students disagree on the treatment of Prof Suryanarayana Doolla. The caste angle portrayed in the media is wrong and does not exist,” he asserted.
The student claimed that the removal of Prof Doolla from the post of Dean (Administrative Affairs) was completely wrong because he was doing his job.
Another student also told the media that reports of caste discrimination are incorrect.
“There is no discrimination on the basis of caste in the institute. Therefore, the media reports on caste bias in IIT Bombay are completely wrong,” he said.
Another student said stress might have led Sahil Wakode to take the extreme step.
“I feel stress must be the reason; otherwise there is no such other reason that could have led Wakode to take such a step. But stress is there because the courses are difficult. I feel that is a part of engineering, and that is how you learn,” he said.
However, some students also alleged that Prof Doolla had a track record of suspending students over what they described as trivial reasons and removing them from hostels.
Measures taken during Prof Doolla’s tenure as Dean of Students Affairs had created a sense of fear, they claimed, adding that his past record made them believe he could have ordered suspension if they had spoken of it following the incident.
The IIT-Bombay on Monday removed Prof Doolla as the dean of Administrative Affairs following protests by students and political activists over Sahil Wakode’s suic*de. Doolla continues to remain on the faculty.
The institute also issued a public apology for its earlier communication that characterised the events preceding the student’s death, before a detailed inquiry was completed.
“In view of the ongoing investigation, it was inappropriate to have set out or characterised details relating to the events preceding Sahil’s demise before they had been duly established through the appropriate investigative process,” it said in a statement, retracting its earlier assertion that Sahil was caught cheating but faced no disciplinary action.
However, student groups expressed dissatisfaction with the move, demanding his suspension as a faculty member.
On Monday evening, the faculty members held a march on the campus to support Doolla. The Faculty Forum said that he followed “Senate-approved exam procedure” when he reported the student for alleged phone use on September 18.
Sahil’s father Ravindra Wakode, however, claimed that his son was mocked, tortured and discriminated on caste lines and demanded a probe into the role of the IIT Bombay administration in his son’s death.
Security has been stepped up around the institute in view of the protests.
