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Locked mobile phone, parents at crime branch office for 8 hours: IIT Bombay suicide probe so far
The Crime Branch has so far recorded statements of 20 persons in connection with the case which renewed the attention on student suicides.
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The parents of IIT Bombay student who died by suicide on September 18, reportedly spent eight hours at the Bandra West office of Mumbai Crime Branch on Friday.
They arrived at 10am and left around 6pm, an official said, news agency PTI reported. The Crime Branch has so far recorded statements of 20 persons in connection with the case which renewed the attention on student suicides across the country.
While statements of the deceased IIT Bombay student's parents were recorded during an earlier visit, Crime Branch officials did not say if additional information or statements were recorded during Friday's 8-hour session.
Deep Dive
The police are also trying to access the deceased student's locked mobile phone amid the ongoing probe. The parents have alleged that their son faced caste-based discrimination at the institute and also staged a hunger strike at Azad Maidan on Thursday.
The deceased studied at IIT Bombay's Department of Energy Science and Engineering. On September 18, he left the examination hall and went straight to his hostel room. When he did not emerge from his room by around 7 pm, the door was opened and he was found dead inside.
The institute had initially claimed that he had been caught using ChatGPT on his mobile phone at the examination.
Mobile phone under probe
The victim's mobile phone is reportedly secured with a pattern lock, restricting access, though several missed call notifications were visible on the display screen, a police official said. Forensic experts were trying to access the device, he was quoted as saying.
IIT Bombay faculty member Suryanarayan Doolla, named in the police FIR which alleges abetment to suicide on grounds of caste discrimination, has been sent on leave to facilitate an impartial probe into the case.
Parents on hunger strike
The parents of the deceased student sat on a hunger strike at Azad Maidan in Mumbai on Thursday evening after meeting the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC).
The parents have sought the arrest of IIT-Bombay director Shireesh Kedare and Dean of Student Affairs Satyanarayan Dulla. A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against the institute under Section 108 (abetment of suicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and provisions of the Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
On Thursday, when the parents were travelling towards the main gate of IIT Bombay to continue their protest, Mumbai Police stopped them around 5 km from the campus. After reportedly waiting for about an hour, they were taken to the Sahyadri Guest House, a government guest house in Mumbai, where NCSC chairperson Kishor Makwana was meeting them. Makwana visited IIT Bombay too.
