Police in Mumbai have registered a first information report (FIR) for abetment to suicide against Professor Suryanarayan Dulla, an educator at IIT Bombay. The charge stems from the death of Sahil Wakode, a 20-year-old MSc student in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, who was found dead in his hostel room on the Powai campus on Friday evening. Two other individuals remain unidentified in the initial police filing.
The case has now moved to the Mumbai Police Crime Branch, according to sources. This escalation follows a formal complaint filed by Wakode’s father, Ravindra Chakradhar Wankhade. Wankhade alleges that his son endured severe mental harassment and casteist slurs for three months leading up to his death. He specifically accuses Professor Dulla, who was an invigilator for the exam in question, of hurling caste-based abuses at the student on the orders of IIT Bombay Director Shireesh B Kedare.
"My son has been killed. He was severely harassed. I want justice," said Wakode’s mother, who has publicly supported the family’s allegations. The father’s complaint details that Sahil, who studied in Yavatmal until class 12, had a smooth first year at the institute. The abuse allegedly began in his second year. Wankhade claims Dulla threatened Sahil, stating that due to his 'lower caste' status, he could easily implicate the student in a false case.
IIT Bombay’s official stance contradicts the family’s narrative of punitive action. The institute stated that Wakode was found using a mobile phone in the examination hall earlier that day and had uploaded the question paper to ChatGPT. The administration claims no disciplinary action was initiated. Instead, the instructor and Head of the Department counselled him, assuring him the incident would not affect his academic career. The institute noted he then returned to his hostel room and was later found dead. Authorities are currently examining the circumstances surrounding the death.