MUMBAI: “I made a mistake by telling him to tolerate the situation.” This was the regret expressed by the mother of IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode, who was found dead in his hostel room last week.Sahil’s parents on Tuesday demanded the arrest of the institute’s director Shireesh B Kedare and professor Suryanarayana Doolla, news agency PTI reported.Sahil’s mother, Sonali Wakode, said she and her husband had met their son in his hostel room on September 13, when he told them he was being tortured and harassed.Speaking to ANI, she said they tried to reassure him and advised him to focus on his studies, believing he had a bright future ahead.“We tried to give him moral support and advised him to focus on his studies because he had secured admission to IIT and had a bright future ahead. In hindsight, I feel that telling him to tolerate the situation was our mistake,” she said.She added, “We persuaded him, told him that he was doing great and his future was bright. Probably, that’s where we faltered as parents. Had we taken him back home with us, our child would have been alive today. We know how the system works, but he was just a 19-year-old kid.”The parents made the remarks after visiting the Mumbai Police Crime Branch office, where they demanded a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding their son’s death and action against those found responsible, news agency PTI reported.Sonali claimed Sahil had told his parents that he was being tortured, abused and humiliated on the basis of his caste, PTI reported.“He specifically told us that professor Suryanarayana Doolla would say, ‘I am from an upper caste and you are from a lower caste.’ According to what Sahil told us, this had been continuing for around three months,” she claimed.Sahil’s father Ravindra Wakode also alleged that Doolla had told his son that he belonged to an upper caste while Sahil belonged to a lower caste.“He used to tell him that he is from the upper caste while Sahil is from the lower caste. He also told him, ‘I will implicate you in some wrong thing and will remove you.’ This had been happening for the past three months,” Ravindra said.He said that when Sahil narrated his ordeal, he advised him to tolerate the situation for the sake of his future.“When he narrated his ordeal, I advised him to bear it a bit for the sake of his future,” he said, speaking to ANI.The parents demanded the immediate arrest of Kedare and Doolla.Sahil’s mother said she had full faith in the Crime Branch and wanted the allegations recorded in the FIR to be examined thoroughly.“I have full faith in the Crime Branch and request that the investigation into my son Sahil’s death be completed fairly, thoroughly, and strictly in accordance with the FIR,” she said.“The allegations and circumstances recorded in the FIR must be properly investigated, and appropriate action should be taken against those found responsible,” she added.The mother also objected to the institute’s initial claim that Sahil had allegedly been caught using an AI platform during an examination.She said anyone making allegations of cheating must provide evidence and questioned what she described as a change in IIT Bombay’s position on the matter.“I am also concerned by what appears to be a change in IIT Bombay’s position or statements regarding these allegations. I request the authorities to examine this carefully and determine whether such allegations have any evidentiary basis or whether they are diverting attention from the issues raised in the FIR,” she said.Ravindra also defended his son’s academic record, saying Sahil had cleared the JEE Advanced examination without using unfair means or cheating.“My child was good at academics. It’s not easy to crack JEE Advanced. Look at his All India rank. He didn’t clear JEE Advanced by using unfair means or cheating,” he said.Meanwhile, a senior Crime Branch official said the statements of Sahil’s parents had been recorded, PTI reported.Statements of IIT Bombay officials, including professor Doolla, were yet to be recorded and they would be summoned for questioning soon, he said.IIT Bombay has said Prof Suryanarayana Doolla was temporarily relieved of his administrative duties pending an investigation.He continues as a professor and head of the Department of Energy Science and Engineering.The institute has also apologised for its earlier communication about the circumstances preceding Sahil’s death, saying those details remained subject to investigation.Sahil, a second-year BTech student in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, was found hanging in his hostel room on the Powai campus on September 18 evening, hours after being caught allegedly using a mobile phone to access ChatGPT during a mid-semester examination.The allegations made by Sahil’s parents are part of the ongoing Crime Branch investigation.(With agency inputs)
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