Overview
- Sahil Wakode, a 22-year-old IIT Bombay student, died by suicide on September 18 after he was reportedly caught cheating during a mid‑semester exam.
- Wakode’s parents have been on a hunger strike demanding the arrest of Professor Suryanarayana Doolla and IIT Bombay director Shireesh Kedare for alleged caste‑based harassment.
- A group of IIT Bombay students began their own hunger strike and submitted an 18‑point charter seeking an independent investigation, the director’s resignation, and suspension of the professor named by the family.
- Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke criticized public attempts to justify the death on the basis of cheating and framed the case as part of a wider pattern of casteism and poor representation of marginalized communities at premier institutes.
- The protests renew scrutiny of IIT governance and representation, and they increase pressure for an independent probe that could lead to administrative changes or policy reviews at elite technical institutions.