Overview
- Sahil Wakode, a 22‑year‑old second‑year B.Tech student, was found dead in his hostel room on September 18 and authorities have described the death as a suicide.
- His father filed an FIR that names Professor Suryanarayana Doolla and cites abetment of suicide and provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and the case was transferred from Powai police to the Mumbai Crime Branch.
- The Mumbai Crime Branch is reviewing classroom and campus CCTV, trying to unlock the student’s locked iPhone for forensic evidence, and has summoned witnesses and faculty for questioning, with officials saying the probe is being conducted impartially.
- IIT Bombay’s Board of Governors has set up a 10‑member internal inquiry led by Prof. Ramesh Venkateswaran, asked Prof. Doolla to go on leave, and requested the panel’s report within a week.
- The case has produced campus protests, detentions of activists, parents demanding immediate arrests, and wider scrutiny of caste discrimination, exam security and student mental‑health support that could shape how elite institutes handle grievances and investigations going forward.