Parents of IIT-B student who died by suicide keen to mark one month on campus

The parents, who are currently protesting at Azad Maidan, are demanding the arrest of professor Suryanarayan Doolla and justice for their son.

Parents of the IIT-Bombay (IIT-B) student who died by suicide have sought permission to visit the campus on October 18 to pay tribute to their son, marking one month since his death. The parents, who are currently protesting at Azad Maidan, are demanding the arrest of professor Suryanarayan Doolla and justice for their son.

The deceased student’s parents have resumed their hunger strike at Azad Maidan, demanding justice for their son. (Anshuman Poyrekar/ HT Photo)

The father said they met joint commissioner of police (crime) Anil Kumbhare on Thursday. “He assured us he would give us permission to visit the campus on October 18,” he said. He told the media the family would continue their protest until the professor was arrested. However, IIT-B sources said they haven’t received any request from the student’s family for permission to pay tribute to the boy.

The student’s father also said, “The system is trying to damage my son’s image by leaking a video and claiming he was copying before the inquiry is completed. This is wrong,” he said.

Students allege continuous caste bias

Meanwhile, students protesting on campus claimed the professor’s alleged caste bias was not an isolated case. They mentioned earlier complaints filed by students against him, claiming IIT-B’s SC/ST Cell had failed to provide proper assistance.

In one such case, a student was suspended by the institute for violating rules. A protester alleged that when the student approached the administration to understand the appeal process, he received no response and was allegedly humiliated when he visited the office of the dean of student affairs. The student later approached the SC/ST Cell, which assured him of assistance, but allegedly failed to provide the required support. The matter is pending in the High Court.

The students also raised concerns about there being no communication from the administration with students sitting at the IIT-B’s main gate for the last 29 days. They also said they were unhappy with faculty representation at the institute. According to RTI data cited by the protesters, only 84 of the 775 filled faculty positions at the institute are held by teachers from SC, ST, OBC and EWS categories.

The protesters demanded a comprehensive law against caste discrimination in higher education, and called for the introduction of a Rohith Act. Institute authorities did not respond to requests for a comment.