Mumbai Police detained protesters outside the main gate of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in Powai on Sunday and took at least 16 students from inside the campus in a police bus, according to students cited in a report by Mid-Day. The action followed demonstrations demanding justice for 20-year-old BTech student Sahil Wakode, who was found dead in his hostel room on September 18.
The protests were organised by several student and social groups, including the All India Students’ Association, the All India Students’ Federation and the All India Independent Scheduled Castes Association. Students said the protesters who were detained were being taken to a police station located farther from Powai. The circumstances surrounding the detentions and the police station to which those taken away were transported were not immediately clear in the supplied report.
Wakode’s parents, Ravindra and Sonali Wakode, visited the IIT Bombay campus on Sunday for the first time since their son’s death. They arrived with a delegation while continuing a hunger strike at Azad Maidan, where they have been seeking accountability and action in the case for more than 15 days.
Ravindra Wakode has filed a First Information Report invoking provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and abetment to suicide. His statement names IIT Bombay director Professor Suryanarayana Doolla. The family and protesters have demanded the immediate arrest of the two, but the allegations reported against them have not been established.
The parents have also sought a fair investigation into the circumstances surrounding Sahil’s death and a meeting with the head of IIT Bombay’s Board of Governors. They have claimed that the institute’s investigative committee has not contacted them. Students said the parents and their delegation entered the campus but were later seated at the Justice Corner near the main gate.
Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad and MLA Aslam Shaikh were also present on the campus during the protest. Students said the institute’s director was seen on campus. The developments place the response to the student’s death within a wider dispute over institutional accountability, the handling of complaints and the participation of the family in the investigation, although the supplied report does not establish the findings of any inquiry.
Further developments concerning the detained protesters, the police action and the family’s demands were awaited at the time of publication.
