Overview
- IIT Bombay reported that a second‑year BTech student, Sahil Ravindra Wakode, was found using a mobile phone to upload an exam question paper to ChatGPT and was later found dead in his hostel room on Friday evening.
- The institute said the student was counselled by the instructor and the head of department and that no disciplinary action had been initiated following the incident.
- Powai police registered an accidental death report, sent the body for post‑mortem and have opened an investigation to determine how the death occurred.
- Hundreds of students held protests seeking transparency and accountability while the student’s mother has alleged harassment and filed a complaint, allegations that remain under investigation and have not been independently verified.
- This is the third reported student death at the Powai campus in the past six to seven months and the case has renewed scrutiny of AI use in exams, campus disciplinary procedures and mental‑health support with calls for a public inquiry and institutional reforms.