Father of IIT-Bombay student threatens hunger strike over alleged abetment

Ravindra Wakode, father of IIT-Bombay student Sahil Wakode who died by suicide, warned that he will start a hunger strike on Wednesday unless the officials implicated in the case are taken into custody. He met with Mumbai crime-branch officials after traveling from Yavatmal and made the declaration publicly. In response, IIT-Bombay’s board of governors created a high-level ten-member committee to examine the circumstances of the death and ordered professor Suryanarayana Doolla, accused of abetment, to go on leave, with a report due within a week.

The committee includes senior faculty, three student representatives, a retired IAS officer, a former vigilance officer and a psychiatrist. Faculty associations nationwide have expressed solidarity with IIT-Bombay and urged adherence to due process, while the institute’s faculty forum president was told not to speak to media. Students from the energy science and engineering department held a peaceful campus march, calling for justice and emphasizing that any inquiry should remain student-led.