Mumbai, September 25, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale has questioned the reported suicides of Scheduled Caste students at IIT Bombay and sought an independent investigation into the death of second-year student Sahil Wakode.
Athawale, who is also president of the Republican Party of India-Athawale (RPI-A), raised the issue during a visit to the IIT Bombay campus in Powai on Friday. Wakode died by suicide earlier this month, with his parents alleging that he faced caste-based discrimination and harassment.
Speaking to reporters, Athawale said at least four students had died by suicide at the institute over the past two to three years and claimed that three of them belonged to the Scheduled Caste community. He questioned whether discrimination was taking place and whether SC students were being subjected to humiliation.
Athawale said he would write to Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi and seek a meeting with him over the issue. He questioned why students at a premier institution such as IIT Bombay were taking their own lives despite having secured admission after highly competitive examinations.
The Union Minister also demanded the immediate suspension of Professor Suryanarayana Doolla, who was the invigilator during the examination in which Wakode was allegedly caught cheating and had his mobile phone confiscated. Athawale called for a full investigation independent of the IIT administration.
Athawale said he had visited Wakode’s hostel room but could not enter as it was locked amid the ongoing police investigation.
Referring to Wakode’s academic performance, Athawale said the student had secured a rank of around 631 among nearly 1.5 million candidates. He said Wakode had been appearing for a semester examination when the professor allegedly raised an objection that he was copying and confiscated his mobile phone, after which he died by suicide.
Athawale called for a thorough investigation to determine whether any individual was responsible for Wakode’s death, saying action should be taken against anyone found responsible, including professors or other officials.
He also said Wakode’s parents had demanded access to the complete CCTV footage from the examination hall. The parents have alleged that only part of the footage was made available to the media and that their son could not be identified in it, while claiming that the visuals did not conclusively establish what had happened.
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