Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi spoke to parents of deceased IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode and assured them of all help in their fight to seek justice for their son, party sources said on Thursday (September 23, 2026).
Mr. Gandhi made a video call to Ravindra and Sonali Wakode when they were on their way to Mumbai from Washim district, the sources told PTI.
In the almost 17-minute call, Mr. Gandhi assured Sahil’s parents that he was with them and assured them all help, the sources said.
Indian Youth Congress president Uday Bhanu Chib and its Maharashtra unit chief Shivraj More were with Sahil’s parents when the call took place.
The parents have announced that they will be going on an indefinite hunger strike in front of the IIT Bombay gate from 11 a.m. on Thursday (September 24, 2026).
The Mumbai Police Crime Branch is already conducting a probe into the death of Sahil, who was found hanging in his hostel room on the evening of September 18, hours after being caught while allegedly using a mobile phone to access ChatGPT during a mid-semester examination.
Faculty member Suryanarayan Doolla, named in the FIR, which alleges abetment to suicide on grounds of caste discrimination, has been sent on leave to facilitate an impartial probe into the case.
Some TV channels on Wednesday aired CCTV footage from the examination hall that captured Sahil’s movements before a professor approaches him and leads him away from the hall after he was allegedly caught copying.
Published – September 24, 2026 10:38 am IST
