Powai police register FIR in Darshan Solanki suicide case

On Monday, SIT had revealed that it had found a “suicide note” from under the deceased’s desk on March 3, where Darshan had named a batch mate.

Over one-and-half months after Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) student Darshan Solanki, 18, died by suicide jumping off the eighth floor of his hostel building, Powai police registered a first information report (FIR) against unknown person/s on Thursday for abetment to suicide and under Prevention of Atrocities Act.

IIT Bombay students, Student Federation of India and other student organizsations protest outside IIT Bombay. (HT Photo/ File)

Read here: Darshan Solanki suicide: Family meets VBA chief, seeks help in filing FIR

On Wednesday, Darshan’s parents had reached out to chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the commissioner of police Vivek Phansalkar, alleging that Mumbai crime branch’s special investigation team (SIT), set up to probe the case, was pressurising them to desist from making an accusation of caste-based discrimination, purportedly prevailing at IIT-B. On Monday, SIT had revealed that it had found a “suicide note” from under the deceased’s desk on March 3, where Darshan had named a batch mate.

On Thursday afternoon, Darshan’s parents Ramesh Bhai and Tarlika Solanki, accompanied by other family members and a lawyer, visited the Powai police station where their statements were recorded and an offence registered, said a police officer from the police station.

“The police have registered an FIR, after much struggle on our part, based on the complaint letter submitted by me on March 16. I hope for a fair investigation into the matter,” said Darshan’s father.

“We have recorded the statement of Darshan Solanki’s parents and based on their statements, the FIR has been registered under section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code and section 3(2)(v) (knowingly commit an offence against a person belonging to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe or his or her property) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Further investigation is on,” joint commissioner of police (crime branch) Lakhmi Gautam said.

Darshan, a first-year chemical engineering student at IIT-B died by suicide on February 12. The incident had sparked off a controversy after his parents alleged that their son was a victim of caste discrimination on the campus.

On March 16, Solanki, had submitted a written complaint to the Mumbai police, suspecting foul play in the death of his son. He had said that when a team from Powai police came to their residence in Ahmedabad on February 16, his daughter Janvi had informed them that her brother had revealed that he was facing caste-based discrimination from classmates and others on campus, when they learnt that he had availed NSL scholarship as an SC/ST student.

Read here: Investigate my son’s death as a murder, Darshan Solanki’s father tells Powai police

The Powai police and SIT, headed by Gautam, have however maintained that none of the people interrogated in the matter on campus had validated the claim of caste-based discrimination allegedly faced by the deceased.

Meanwhile, late on Thursday night, Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC) IIT-B, a student collective who stood behind the Solanki family, tweeted, “After 46 days since February 12, an FIR has been filed under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act based on the complaint submitted by Darshan’s family to the Powai Police Station on March 16.”