Parents of Sahil Wakode, an IIT Bombay student who died by suicide, have written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking intervention in the case.

Several students began a sit-in after the police removed a protest site in front of the institution, even as the family’s lawyer raised questions over the timing of a professor’s statement and the release of material linked to the case.

The parents said they had been protesting at Azad Maidan for 16 days and that no representative of the government or official of IIT-B had met them.

At a press conference at the protest venue, the student’s father said the family was not satisfied with the police probe and sought appointment of an officer of Deputy Commissioner of Police rank to investigate the case. “The institute must clarify who asked him to write the letter, the circumstances of its signing and whether examination rules permit it,” he told reporters.

Family’s lawyer questions timing of releasing material related to the case

Advocate Siddharth Ingale, lawyer for the family, said police recorded the statement of Professor Suryanarayan Doolla on October 1, which was 14 days after the incident. Professor Doolla has been booked for abetment to suicide.

Mr. Ingale questioned the timing of the release of material related to the case. He said CCTV footage linked to examination malpractice went into circulation after the statement was recorded. The letter of confession and details of a phone call with a girl also came into circulation after that, he said. Police were collecting evidence and statements around examination malpractice, but allegations of abetment to suicide and remarks about caste by a faculty member also needed investigation, he added.

Mr. Ingale said the family received information about Professor Doolla travelling abroad and wrote to the Chief Minister and the Joint Commissioner of Police seeking details of the travel and the rules under which he was allowed to leave the country while investigation was underway.

He also said no representative of the government or official of the institute had met the parents in over two weeks. The lawyers also made a reference to the recent attack on Hindi actor Tiger Shroff. He said the actor escaped a gun attack on Sunday (October 18, 2026) and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited his house on the same day, but no one had time to meet the family at Azad Maidan yet.

All India Independent Scheduled Castes Association to organise rally, protests

Meanwhile, the All India Independent Scheduled Castes Association, at a press conference, condemned the detention and alleged assault of activists and students during a protest at the gate of IIT-B on Sunday (October 18, 2026). Activist Rahul Sonpimple said the association had lost faith in the Supreme Court and compared conduct of the top court with casteism in villages.

The association sought action from the Maharashtra State Commission for Scheduled Castes and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes over use of force on students and activists belonging to Scheduled Castes. It sought resignation of Professor Doolla and action against him, and removal of IIT-B director Shireesh Kedare.

Mr. Sonpimple said the association would organise a rally and protests in districts across the country in days ahead to seek justice for the student.

‘Justice Corner 2.0’ at IIT Bombay

Students at IIT-B started “Justice Corner 2.0” on Monday (October 19, 2026), a protest site near the Ambedkar statue in the building of the institute, a day after police dismantled a protest site near the gate that had stood for a month. In a statement, the students said the sit-in was a response to demolition of Justice Corner and refusal of the administration to engage with them. Police action against protesters was an attempt to silence the movement, they said.

The students sought investigation by an agency outside the institute, changes to the inquiry committee of the institute, the resignation of IIT-B director and the suspension of Professor Doolla.

Amidst ongoing student unrest, the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay on Monday (September 21, 2026) issued an apology for its earlier statements “concerning the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate demise of Sahil.”

The apology, made in a post on X, comes as the Mumbai Police has transferred the probe into the death of a second-year student at IIT-Bombay to the Crime Branch.

The student, Sahil, was found dead in his hostel room on Friday (September 18, 2026) after a professor had reported him for possessing a phone during the examination. The professor, Professor Suryanarayana Doolla, who was invigilating the exam, has been named in the FIR along with other institute officials. 

In an initial statement on Saturday (September 19, 2026), just after reports emerged about the Sahil’s demise, the institute had said that “the student was found using a mobile phone in the exam hall. He had uploaded the examination question paper on ChatGPT to seek answers.”

“No disciplinary action was initiated against the student. The matter was also discussed with the student by the instructor, the faculty advisor and the Head of the Department, who counselled him and assured him that the incident would not adversely affect his academic career,” the institute had further said in the statement.

Sahil’s family, however, has said he was subjected to casteist remarks. His father, Ravindra, said in the FIR that his son had told him that Mr. Doolla had harassed him for three months.

Now, apologising for their earlier statement, IIT-Bombay said it has deemed it inappropriate to “have set out or characterised details relating to the events preceding his [Sahil’s] demise before they had been duly established through the appropriate investigative process.”

“The details and circumstances leading up to the incident remain subject to investigation by the appropriate authorities. In view of the ongoing investigation,” it said today (September 21, 2026).

The institute also took to social media to deny any reports surrounding the Director’s resignation. “Director IIT Bombay has NOT resigned. We categorically state that the related news is false,” it said.

(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416. and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050).