IIT-B suicide: Parents seek clarity on answer sheet, apology letter

MUMBAI: Parents of the IIT-Bombay student who died by suicide after he was allegedly caught copying during an exam have flagged problems with two documents central to the case

MUMBAI: Parents of the IIT-Bombay student who died by suicide after he was allegedly caught copying during an exam have flagged problems with two documents central to the case. They allege that the handwriting on the apology letter believed to have been written by their son does not match that of their son. They also allege that a page of the answer sheet from the mid-semester exam where he was allegedly found copying was missing.

They discussed these issues with Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) Sadanand Date, whom they met on Monday. The parents were recently given access to documents seized by the police in connection with the case.

According to a letter submitted to the DGP, page number three of the answer sheet was missing. While the answer sheet had printed questions with space provided for students to write their answers, the page containing question number three was not available, they said.

The parents also sought the original apology letter allegedly written by their son as they claim the handwriting doesn’t appear to be his.

Date told HT, “The case is under investigation. The application and details given by the delegation and the family are being conveyed to the commissioner of police for necessary action.”

Their lawyer, Siddharth Ingale, said the alleged discrepancies were brought to the notice of the investigating authorities. “Police said they are waiting for the forensic report,” he said.

The parents have also written another email to IIT-B’s Board of Governors, seeking a copy of the interim report of a committee appointed by the institute to probe their son’s death. “We don’t have faith in the report as the committee did not contact us to seek our views,” said the father.

Inputs from Vinay Dalvi