Sahil Wakode’s death: How rife is caste discrimination in IITs? | In Focus Podcast

The death by suicide of Sahil Wakode, a second year B.Tech student at IIT, Bombay, has sparked protests, allegations of caste discrimination, and demands for institutional reforms.Between the years 2020-21 and 2024-25, IITs reported 45 student suicides, of which 28, or 62%, were from SC/ST or OBC communities. There is a tendency to assume that India’s premier educational institutions such as the IITs are islands of ‘merit’, where everyone is treated solely on the basis of their capabilities. Why then, do we keep getting reports of SC/ST students dying by suicide in some of India’s most prestigious institutions?Who should be held accountable for caste discrimination in a campus setting? What’s the remedy?Guest: Professor N Sukumar, Department of Political Science at Delhi UniversityHost: G Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The HinduProducer & editor: Jude WestonFor more episodes of In Focus: Published - October 27, 2026 06:05 pm IST