Days after the alleged death by suicide of 19-year-old student, Sahil Wakode, inside his hostel room, the haloed gates of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) have become a fortress.
At night, an oppressive silence hangs at the heavily guarded gates. During the day, protests erupt on both sides, in a call for justice.
From the main entrance of the campus up to the Powai Police Station, blue police vehicles, heavy iron barricades, and a strict vigil of khaki uniforms dotted the horizon on Sunday.
By evening, the tension was palpable as protesting students lit candles in memory of Sahil and demanded justice against his "institutional murder".
By Monday afternoon, the friction peaked when the accused, Professor Suryanarayan Doolla, was "partially" suspended from his deanship by the college administration, in contrast with the protesters' demand for his "complete expulsion" from the institute. When student protesters gathered outside the IIT-B gates for a "peaceful condolence meet," they were allegedly lathicharged by the police."
The death of the second-year student from the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, inside his room at Hostel No 4, has once again brought to the surface the darkness lurking behind the glitter of the country’s most prestigious engineering institute.
Soon after the Sahil's death, the IIT administration, in a brief internal statement, claimed that he was caught cheating using ChatGPT during an examination, after which he was counselled. They claimed that no disciplinary action was taken against him—and that he was assured there would be no harm done to his future academic or career prospects.
Sahil's parents, however, have alleged harassment and casteist discrimination by teachers, primarily Professor Suryanarayan Doolla, the invigilating professor who caught the student.
'Suspension a Smokescreen'
On Monday, Doolla, who is also the Dean of Student Affairs, was put on suspension from his deanship by the IIT-B administration, which has apologised for its previous remarks following over three days of protests on campus.
According to a Teaching Assistant (TA) from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), Professor Doolla "shouted at Sahil in a cruel and inhuman tone."
Speaking to The Quint on condition of anonymity, the TA said:
“My [exam] duty was on the same floor where Sahil was caught. Since I had to immediately return to my class for invigilation, I could not hear the entire conversation, but the last thing I heard was Doolla calling the security personnel present there."
According to an email issued by the IIT administration and Director Shireesh B Kedare, accessed by The Quint, Doolla has been relieved of his Deanship, but will continue teaching. But protesting students, however, alleged that contrary to the students' demands for his resignation, the administration has found a way to use this "partial suspension" as a "smokescreen to evade accountability."
One student told The Quint, "This is not a punishment, but an administrative exercise to protect the accused. Removing a professor, whose harassment, shouting, and threats led to the death of a student, from an administrative position while retaining him as a professor on the same campus, is a disregard for the safety of other students."
The student, who did not wish to be named, added,
"Our demand was not just for his removal from the Dean's position, but for his complete termination from the institute, his immediate arrest, and the filing of an FIR under non-bailable sections."
Mumbai Police has filed a case of abetment to suicide against Doolla, and two others (though they have not been identified). The investigation has since been transferred to the Crime Branch, Mumbai Police sources told The Quint.
IIT-B's Third Death by Suicide in 7 Months
Protesting students alleged that there have been attempts to "cover" the incident from the administration's side by initially calling this a "personal mental health problem".
However, this is not the first time a student has died by suicide inside an IIT. This, in fact, is the third death by suicide inside the IIT-B campus in seven months.
“IIT Bombay’s administration has not only become insensitive, but shameless. After every suicide, they have only one worn-out script—‘the student was under academic stress’, ‘there was personal depression’, ‘the institute has no fault’," Jayesh, an IIT-B student, told The Quint.
In the last 20 years, as per data compiled by an IIT-Kanpur alumnus, at least 171 students have died by suicide across various IIT campuses in the last 20 years.
"Whenever an incident happens, administration blames the student's personal mental health situation. But then the question is: what about the mental state of those people sitting in administrative posts, who mistreat the students, and on whom no legal accountability is fixed?"An IIT-B student
With mounting pressure on the administration after the Student Council's emergency meeting on Sunday night, the IIT Faculty Forum, a faculty group within the campus, issued a verbal statement in defence of Professor Doolla. The Faculty Forum expressed "dissatisfaction with any punitive action against Doolla".
Speaking on the statement, protesters further alleged that the institute's top brass is mobilising to defend its own professors instead of holding them accountable.
The Quint reached out to IIT-B's Public Relations Officer multiple times for a comment but has not yet received a response. Several teachers also refused to comment considering the "sensitive" nature of the matter.
A Systemic Issue
Students have questioned the use of the police force in response to protesters seeking accountability. The Quint was present on the spot when protesting students were dragged and shoved into a police van on Monday. In the ensuing scuffle and lathicharge, the clothes of several students were torn, including this reporter's.
The police have claimed that the disruption was caused by the students. However, protesters alleged that the heavy barricades and police vans placed on the road by the police made the situation tense. "This brutal attack on even a peaceful condolence meeting proves that the state machinery and the IIT administration are completely in cahoots," a protester said.
The Quint tried to speak with Powai Police personnel on the spot and also reached out to the Powai Police station. A response is as yet awaited.
Tejas Anoop, a Bombay University law student who was part of the protests, felt that the reaction was in line with the way the administration has handled such cases in the past.
"IIT Bombay, in order to protect its international rankings, research papers, and corporate placements, doesn't want to be associated with student deaths. The standard of 'academic brilliance' created here doesn't treat students as human beings, but merely as cogs in the making of research papers," Anoop alleged.
Jayesh felt many factors pointed to not just Doolla's accountability, but the entire rot in the system.
“Even if the accusation of Sahil using ChatGPT during exam were true, does not a prestigious university have a defined code of conduct, a disciplinary committee, or a fair hearing process? Why did the professor take the law into his own hands and pronounce punishment right there on the spot? He was so frightened by the threat of one-year suspension, career destruction, and police-security threats that no option remained for him except to take his own life.”Jayesh, Student
Students alleged that the authorities had previously promised to install "springs" in the hostel room fans as "anti-suicide devices".
"The proposed "remedy" is not really the correct response to begin with, and even that has not been done yet," Jayesh said.
Protests, Demands and a Call for Justice
In their detailed 14-point official memorandum, student representatives of IIT-B on 19 September submitted their demands, giving the administration 48 hours to respond and come up with an implementation plan. A permanent ‘sit-in protest’ (dharna site) in the Hostel No 4 campus has begun. The agitating students say that unless their immediate demands are met, their protest will continue daily and peaceful candle meetings will be organised every evening.
Comrade Prashant of All India Students' Association (AISA), who was leading the protest, told The Quint that despite being a democracy, India's institutions like IIT Bombay have been reduced to medieval fiefdoms, where "institutional murders of students are taking place".
"Millions of children work day and night, giving their blood and sweat to clear JEE Mains and JEE Advanced. But when a student finally reaches such an institution, especially if coming from marginalised backgrounds, despite so much hard work, he or she is harassed in the name of caste and background. It can be a crushing blow."Prashant, AISA
The demands include setting up of an independent panel for investigation into Sahil’s death and the circumstances of emergency hospital response, consisting of professors, student representatives, and external members recommended by students, whose report be made public before 30 September 2026.
They further demanded a clear procedure committee be constituted for fair investigation of complaints against professors and evaluation within a fixed time limit, and that cases of cheating in future would not be dealt with "privately in closed rooms; the student’s mentor (ISMP/DAMP), peer (ISCP/IRSCP), or a classmate chosen by the student be informed immediately, and the entire conversation be documented so that just treatment with the student is ensured".
Measures have also been sought to build a mental health support system to help students, including a permanent task force of students, teachers, mental health experts, and external experts, to study the causes of students’ stress, suggests preventive measures, and publishes semester-wise reports.
Holding a photograph of the deceased student, the All India Students' Federation (AISF) leader Comrade Aamir Qazi addressed the crowd, saying:
“Only a few days ago, a student died under suspicious circumstances at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), and now the same incident has been repeated at IIT Bombay. This is not a suicide, it's ‘institutional murder."Aamir Qazi, AISF
"The family members have clearly stated, while crying, that they will not take their son’s body until the accused dean and professors are arrested. We students have started a hunger strike outside the Powai police station. This movement will not stop until justice is delivered," Qazi added.
(Alex Azam Khan is a student at TISS and an independent journalist writing and reporting on news and politics from Mumbai, Maharashtra.)