Protests erupted at IIT Bombay campus after a student died by suicide hours after being accused of cheating in an examination on Thursday, 18 September. The incident occurred after Sahil Wakude, a second-year student in the Energy Science & Engineering Department, was allegedly caught during an examination with a mobile phone on which he had allegedly uploaded the question paper to ChatGPT, reports said.
According to police officials quoted by The Indian Express, no disciplinary action had been taken against Wakude and he had been told that the incident would not affect his academic career.
Students, seen raising slogans in the campus amid police presence, were upset with the Director, Prof Shireesh Kedare for allegedly meeting them four hours after the protests began. The gathering was later shifted to the Convocation Hall.
The mid-semester examinations were reportedly postponed following the death.
This is the fourth recorded case of suicide at IIT Bombay this year.