IIT Bombay suspends Professor Doolla as dean amid suicide row; apologises over earlier remarks

IIT Bombay suspended Dean of Student Affairs Professor Suryanarayana Doolla amid protests over BTech student Sahil Wakode’s death, as the Mumbai Crime Branch investigates allegations of harassment and caste-based discrimination.

IIT Bombay on Monday suspended Dean of Student Affairs Professor Suryanarayana Doolla with immediate effect following the death by suicide of 20-year-old BTech student Sahil Wakode. The move came amid student protests and demands for action over the circumstances surrounding Wakode’s death.

“Prof. Suryanarayana Doolla, Dean of Student Affairs, has been suspended with immediate effect. Any further action will be taken following an investigation,” IIT Bombay Director Prof. Shireesh Kedare said.

Students and Wakode’s family had accused Doolla of harassment and abetment in connection with the student’s death. However, Doolla will continue to serve as a professor and head of the Department of Energy Science and Engineering.

Doolla was named as an accused in an FIR registered after the student’s parents alleged that he faced harassment and caste-based discrimination by campus authorities.

The suspension came amid continued demands from protesting students for accountability over the circumstances surrounding the student’s death.

The institute also apologised for statements made in an earlier communication regarding the circumstances surrounding Wakode’s death.

“We apologise for the statements contained in our earlier communication concerning the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate demise of Sahil. The details and circumstances leading up to the incident remain subject to investigation by the appropriate authorities. In view of the ongoing investigation, it was inappropriate to have set out or characterised details relating to the events preceding his demise before they had been duly established through the appropriate investigative process."

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Crime Branch will probe the matter

Meanwhile, The Mumbai Police transferred the case to the Crime Branch on Saturday night, with officials indicating that the professor and other individuals may be questioned as part of the investigation.

The deceased student, who was pursuing a BTech in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering at IIT Bombay, was found dead in his hostel room on Friday evening, hours after an examination-related incident on campus.

Following his death, the student’s father lodged a formal police complaint, making serious allegations against the institute authorities.

Authorities have booked a case of abetment to suicide and applied sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act after the family alleged caste-based harassment. The probe has now been handed over to the Mumbai Crime Branch.

The students' call for action against Doolla stems from the examination episode involving Sahil Wakode. The second-year Energy Science and Engineering student was reportedly found with a mobile phone during a mid-semester test on Friday.

IIT-Bombay said Wakode had uploaded the examination question paper to an AI platform to seek answers, but maintained that no disciplinary proceedings had been started against him.

According to the institute, the student was counselled and assurance was given to him that the incident would not have any adverse impact on his academic career.

Wakode was later found dead in his hostel room. IIT-Bombay has denied allegations of caste discrimination, stating that he had not filed any such complaint with either the institute’s SC/ST cell or its administration.

Also Read | 'He was harassed, discriminated': Parents of IIT Bombay student who died by suicide

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