Mumbai:
The parents of Sahil Wakode, a 20-year-old student at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay who died by suicide last week, have made an emotional appeal to students at the institute, urging them to continue protesting and to preserve any evidence relating to their son’s death.
In a video message addressed to IIT Bombay students, Sahil’s father said he had been unable to enter the campus despite travelling there two or three times. He said he planned to begin a hunger strike at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan from Monday to press for access to the institute and demand justice for his son.
“I am Sahil’s father, and this is Sahil’s mother. I have one request to make to you. The police are not allowing me to enter IIT Bombay. I have come there two or three times and had to return. From Monday, I am going to sit on a hunger strike at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan because I have not been given permission to enter the campus. They are creating a misunderstanding between you and us by saying that you are not doing anything and that Sahil’s father is not doing anything,” Ravindra Wakode said in a video message, sitting next to Sahil’s mother Sonali.
“Sahil is no longer with us, my children,” he added. “But I request you to ensure that your careers also progress well. So, please sit on the hunger strike and support me.”
The appeal came as students at IIT Bombay held a candlelight march on Friday night, a week after Sahil was found dead in his hostel room.
The students have demanded that the institute’s inquiry committee be reconstituted and have raised questions about its composition. They have also demanded that Professor Suryanarayan Doolla, who has been named in a police FIR alleging caste discrimination and abetment to suicide, be relieved of all responsibilities until the criminal investigation is completed.
The students have also sought the resignation of IIT Bombay Director Shireesh Kedare. Sahil’s father said the family wanted to know what had happened inside IIT Bombay.
“Whatever happened inside the campus must come out in the open. That is all we want,” he said. “Please do not break this hunger strike. Continue it. Whatever the police or anyone else may say, please do not blindly trust what they tell you.”
The father also said he would continue his fight for justice even at the cost of his own life.
“I will continue to fight until I get justice for my child. Even if I die in the process, I am prepared for that,” he said. “I request you not to be misled by anyone. Please stand with me, and I will stand with you. If you have any evidence related to Sahil, please preserve it carefully. It may be useful to me in court and during the investigation. That is my only request.”
On Friday night, students organised a candlelight march from the Justice Corner at the institute’s main gate to Hostel 4. The march marked one week since Sahil’s death in his hostel room on September 18.
Students have demanded that the 10-member committee constituted by the IIT Bombay board to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death be reconstituted. They have alleged that some members of the existing committee had expressed support for Professor Doolla, who has been named in the police FIR.
The students are seeking a new panel that would have no current IIT Bombay employees or students as members.
