Following the protests that arose over a student’s suicide at IIT Bombay, amid reports that the IIT director was set to resign, the administration has said that he has not resigned.
It was said that during a college exam, the student was caught by the exam hall invigilator while writing the test using AI on a mobile phone. Officials said that a few hours later, the student was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his hostel room.
The IIT administration had explained that no action was taken against the student who was caught. It was also said that, through his class professor, the student was warned and made to give an assurance that such an incident would not happen again, and that it was taken into consideration that taking action would affect his education.
The family members have alleged that the student who died by suicide was subjected to institutional harassment, caste discrimination, and severe threats of suspension.
Based on the complaint filed by the student’s parents, the police have registered a case under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for abetment of suicide. In addition, Professor Suryanarayana Dola has been named as an accused in this case. The crime branch police are investigating the case.
Following this, many students have staged a protest at the IIT Bombay campus, demanding justice for the student’s suicide, alleging that the college administration does not take students’ mental well-being into account. The students, who put forward 18 demands, had said that the protest would continue until those demands are fulfilled.
In this situation, the IIT administration has agreed to accept the students’ demands. In addition, IIT Bombay Director and Professor Shirish Kedare has announced that he will resign from his post.
When he spoke yesterday to the students involved in the protest, he said, "I will resign. But I have to follow legal procedures. I will announce my decision after the meeting on Monday," he had said.
It was said that the IIT administration would meet today to discuss this.
Following this, in a post released today on social media, IIT Bombay said, “We regret the remarks made in our previous statement regarding the circumstances surrounding student Sahil’s unfortunate death.
The background details and circumstances of this incident are under investigation by the authorities. While the investigation is ongoing, it was inappropriate to comment on the events leading up to his death before confirming the details through a proper inquiry,” they noted.
Moreover, they have also posted, “The IIT Bombay Director has not resigned. We categorically state that the news regarding this is false.”
This has caused outrage among students.
