MUMBAI: The father of a 22-year-old IIT Bombay student who died by suicide has alleged that his son was subjected to caste-based discrimination, mocking and torture by a professor and the institute administration.Sahil Ravindra Wakode, a second-year BTech student in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his hostel room on IIT Bombay’s Powai campus on Friday evening, hours after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone during a mid-semester examination, officials said.Sahil’s last rites were conducted at his hometown in Yavatmal on Sunday.Speaking to a news channel, Sahil’s father Ravindra Wakode said his son had been brought up in extreme poverty and had managed to secure admission to the premier institute.Wakode alleged that IIT faculty members and administrative officials had discriminated against Sahil on caste lines and falsely targeted him. He demanded a probe into their alleged role in his son’s death.The Wakodes lodged a police complaint following which police registered an FIR on Saturday on charges of abetment of suicide under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. A professor has been named as an accused in the case, which is being investigated by the Crime Branch.Ravindra Wakode asserted that his son was strong and was not someone who could commit suicide.“The IIT Bombay administration tortured my son and discriminated against him on caste lines,” he claimed.Wakode alleged that his son would talk about a professor who would call him lower caste, torture and mock him with false accusations.He further alleged that the professor, whom he did not identify, was supported by the institute’s director.IIT Bombay on Monday said Prof Suryanarayana Doolla has been removed from the post of Dean (student affairs) with immediate effect.(With Agency Inputs)
