IIT-Bombay suicide case: Victim's father threatens hunger strike

IIT-Bombay Prof Suryanarayana DoollaMUMBAI: Sahil Wakode’s father Ravindra said he would begin a hunger strike from Wednesday if IIT-Bombay officials named in the case were not arrested, four days after the second-year BTech student died by suicide on campus.Ravindra, who arrived in Mumbai, met city crime branch officers before making the announcement. He and his wife had last met Wakode on September 13, five days before his death, and spent the day with him on the IIT-B campus before returning to their home in Yavatmal the following day.IIT-Bombay sets up 10-member panel, asks Doolla to go on leaveThe announcement came as IIT-B’s board of governors set up a 10-member high-level committee to probe the circumstances surrounding Wakode’s death and asked Prof Suryanarayana Doolla, who has been accused of abetment, to go on leave.The panel has been asked to submit its report within a week. “Once the report is submitted and the investigation is complete, a decision will be taken,” a source said.The board also considered the demands raised by students and is learnt to have agreed to most of them, barring calls for resignations.The panel will be headed by Prof Ramesh Venkateswaran, chairman of the board of governors at IIT-Palakkad. IIT-B faculty members on the panel include Prof K Narayanan from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences; Prof Sandip Kumar Saha from the department of mechanical engineering, who is also convener of the institute’s SC/ST students and staff cell; and Prof Deepti Kalsi, assistant professor in the department of chemistry.Three students have also been included: general secretary (hostel affairs) Aditya Joshi, student mentor programme overall coordinator Dev Arora and research scholar Devi Lal.Retired IAS officer Vishwanath Giriraj, former institute vigilance officer Prof K G Suresh from the physics department and psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty are the other members.A senior institute official said the panel’s composition had been shared with the education ministry and its nod was awaited.Faculty bodies back IIT-B counterparts; students hold campus marchThe developments came as faculty bodies from IITs across the country sent messages expressing support for their counterparts at IIT-B and called for due process to be followed. By evening, however, IIT-B Faculty Forum president Prof Ravindra Pant was instructed not to speak to the media.Around 6pm, students from the energy science and engineering department held a peaceful march on campus, seeking justice for Wakode while expressing support for Doolla.Student representatives said they wanted questions arising from Wakode’s death to remain student-led and rooted within the IIT-B community.Meanwhile, a faculty member questioned how Wakode allegedly managed to carry a phone into the exam hall despite frisking before entry.“Guards are posted even outside washrooms and students are frisked after they come out,” the faculty member said.Students, however, said the checks were not always rigorous. “The frisking is often quite cursory. Sometimes, we keep our phone behind a scientific calculator in our pocket. The guard may simply ask what is inside, and if we say it is a calculator, we are often allowed to pass,” a student said.