IIT-B suicide: Parents seek CM’s intervention, DCP-rank officer to probe case

Addressing a press conference, the deceased student’s father said that the family was not satisfied with the police probe which was underway. He also raised questions about the purported apology letter that his son was asked to write after allegedly being caught cheating in the mid-semester exam

Mumbai: Parents of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) student who died by suicide on September 18 on Monday said that they have written to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, seeking his intervention in ensuring justice for their deceased son. They also alleged that though they had been protesting at Azad Maidan for the past 16 days, no government representative or IIT-B official had met them.

Though the deceased student’s parents have been on hunger strike at Azad Maidan for the past 16 days seeking justice for their son, no government or IIT-B official has met them, they said (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

Addressing a press conference at the protest venue, the deceased student’s father said that the family was not satisfied with the police probe which was underway and demanded that an officer of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) rank be appointed to investigate the case. He also raised questions about the purported apology letter that his son was asked to write after allegedly being caught cheating in the mid-semester exam.

“The institute must clarify who asked him to write the letter, the circumstances in which it was signed and whether the examination rules allow such letters,” he told reporters.

Advocate Siddharth Ingale, the family’s lawyer, also addressed the press conference and alleged that the police had recorded the statement of Professor Suryanarayan Doolla, who has been booked for abetment to suicide, 14 days after the incident, on October 1. He also questioned the timing of the release of certain material related to the case.

“The CCTV footage (of alleged exam malpractice) went viral after the professor’s statement was recorded. The (deceased student’s) confession letter and details of his phone call with a girl also came into the public domain after that. The police are collecting evidence and statements mainly around the examination malpractice angle, but the allegations of abetment to suicide and casteist remarks by a faculty member also need to be investigated,” the lawyer said.

Ingale said that after the family received information about Professor Doolla travelling abroad, they wrote to the chief minister and the Joint Commissioner of Police, seeking details of his travel and asking under what rules he was allowed to leave the country while the investigation was underway.

However, sources in IIT-B and the police said that the professor had not travelled abroad, but was very much in India and cooperating with the investigation.

Ingale also raised concerns over the fact that no government representative or institute official had met the student’s parents in over two weeks.

“On Sunday, when Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff escaped a gun attack, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde immediately visited his house. But no one has time to meet this family, which has been sitting at Azad Maidan for the past 16 days seeking justice for their son,” he said.

On Monday, the All India Independent Scheduled Castes Association (AIISCA) held a separate press conference, strongly condemning the alleged forced detention and assault of Dalit activists and students on Sunday, during a protest at the IIT-B main gate, demanding justice for the deceased student.

Addressing the press conference, activist Rahul Sonpimple said, “We have lost faith in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is worse than casteism in villages.”

AIISCA demanded that the Maharashtra State Commission for Scheduled Castes and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes take immediate action over the alleged use of force on Dalit students and activists. It also demanded the resignation of and legal action against Professor Doolla, alongside the removal of IIT-B director Shireesh Kedare.

Sonpimple said the AIISCA would organise a mass rally on Sunday and hold protests at the district level across the country in the coming days to demand justice for the deceased student.

Justice Corner 2.0

Students at IIT-B seeking justice for the deceased student on Monday started ‘Justice Corner 2.0’, a protest site near the Ambedkar statue in the institute’s main building, a day after police dismantled their month-long protest site near the institute’s main gate.

In a statement, the students said the new sit-in was a response to the demolition of Justice Corner and the administration’s refusal to engage with them. The police action against protesters was an attempt to silence their movement, they said.

The students are demanding an independent investigation into the student’s death, changes to the institute’s inquiry committee, the director’s resignation, and the suspension of Professor Doolla. They also demanded reforms to the SC/ST cell and better grievance redressal and mental health support for students.