Parents demand arrests in IIT Bombay student death case

Sahil Wakode, a second-year BTech student in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering at IIT Bombay, was found dead in his hostel room on the Powai campus on September 18, hours after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone to access ChatGPT during a midsemester examination. His parents, Ravindra and Sonali Wakode, visited the Mumbai Police Crime Branch office in Bandra on September 22 and demanded the immediate arrest of Professor Suryanarayana Doolla and Director Professor Shireesh Kedare, who have been named in the case. A case alleging abetment and caste discrimination has been registered in connection with the death, and the probe was transferred to the Crime Branch on September 19 following protests on campus. The parents alleged that their son faced caste-based harassment and mental torture at the institute. Sonali Wakode said that during a September 13 visit to his hostel room, Sahil told them he was being subjected to torture and casteist slurs, and that Professor Doolla would say he was from an upper caste and Sahil from a lower caste. She said the family advised him to ignore the remarks and focus on his studies, an approach they now regret.