Yavatmal, Sep 21 (PTI) The maternal grandmother of the IIT Bombay student who died by suicide on September 18 claimed on Monday that “mental torture’ may be a reason for him to take the extreme step and sought a probe into the institute’s administration and the hostel environment.
Sahil Ravindra Wakode (22), 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 the IIT Bombay’s Powai campus on September 18 evening.
It has resulted in protests by students and a police case against a professor under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act based on the complaint of his parents about alleged caste discrimination and harassment.
Speaking to reporters here, Wakode’s maternal grandmother Shyamlata Tayade said, “Mental torture by IIT Bombay can be a reason behind Sahil’s suicide.” Calling for the equal treatment of all students, she also said the institute’s administration and the hostel environment should be investigated if bright students like Wakode are driven to end their lives.
“At home, Sahil had a lot of support from relatives and others as he was fulfilling everyone’s dream of studying at IIT. All relatives would always wish him well,” she said.
No one could believe that he had killed himself since he was very bright in studies, Tayade added.
She also said the institute should first inform the parents when such an incident takes place.
“He was his parents only son. To me it seems that not just Sahil but even his parents have been killed. Because now for what will his parents live? My only plea is that Sahil’s family must get justice,” she asserted.
Earlier, speaking to a news channel, Wakode’s father Ravindra had claimed his only son was subjected to relentless caste-based mocking and torture by a professor and the administration.
Ravindra Wakode said Sahil was brought up in extreme poverty and had managed to reach the premier institute.
IIT faculty members and officials from the administration had discriminated against Sahil on caste lines and falsely targeted him, he alleged, demanding a probe into their role in his son’s death.
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.
The concerned professor, whom he didn’t identify, was supported by the institute’s director, he claimed. PTI COR CLS ARU BNM
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