MUMBAI: A week after Sahil Wakode’s death, IIT Bombay students held a candlelight march on Friday night demanding that the 10-member committee probing the circumstances surrounding his alleged suicide be reconstituted, claiming some members of the panel had expressed support for Prof Suryanarayana Doolla, who has been named in the police FIR.The march began at the Justice Corner near the main gate and continued to Hostel 4, where Wakode was found dead on September 18.The students demanded that the inquiry committee be reconstituted without any current IIT Bombay employees or students as members.They also sought the inclusion of at least two of four prominent personalities – former Planning Commission member Bhalchandra Mungekar, journalist P Sainath, activist Ram Puniyani and academic Sukhadeo Thorat, in the new panel.The Board of IIT Bombay had constituted a 10-member committee earlier this week to probe the circumstances surrounding Wakode’s alleged suicide.Doolla, a faculty member named in the police FIR alleging caste discrimination and abetment to suicide, has already been sent on leave to facilitate an impartial probe.The protesting students also demanded that Doolla be relieved of all his responsibilities until the criminal investigation is completed.They further sought the resignation of IIT Bombay Director Shireesh Kedare.The Mumbai Police Crime Branch is probing the alleged abetment to suicide case.Wakode, 22, was found hanging in his hostel room on the evening of September 18, hours after he was caught while allegedly using his mobile phone to access ChatGPT during a mid-semester examination.(With PTI inputs)
