Mumbai, Sept 22 (PTI) Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Pratap Sarnaik on Tuesday alleged that some politicians were trying to give casteist colour to the suicide by an IIT Bombay student.
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 the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act based on the complaint of his parents about alleged caste discrimination and harassment.
“His (Wakode’s) father has complained about the casteist angle. Some political people are trying to give casteist colour to the issue. This is wrong. This should not happen in the education sector,” Transport Minister Sarnaik said.
Shiv Sena spokesperson Shaina NC said the crime branch was properly doing its job of investigating the case.
She demanded fast-tracking of the case for delivery of justice to the deceased student’s family.
The IIT Bombay on Monday removed Suryanarayana Doolla as the dean of Administrative Affairs following protests by students and political activists over Sahil’s suicide, which led to a case of abetment and caste discrimination registered against him.
According to the investigators, CCTV cameras inside the examination hall captured Sahil’s movements before a professor approached him and led him away from other students after he was allegedly caught copying. Subsequent footage showed Sahil walking across the campus to his hostel room after exiting the examination hall. He was not seen leaving his room thereafter.
IIT Bombay Faculty Forum president Dr Rajkumar Pant has earlier claimed that the deceased student had not approached the institute’s SC/ST cell with any complaint in the recent past. PTI PR NP
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