Mumbai police detain 20 at candlelight vigil for dead IIT Bombay student

Mumbai police detained at least 20 people at a candlelight vigil on Sunday for a student at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay who was found hanging in his hostel room in September. The gathering at Chaityabhoomi in Dadar — the memorial and cremation site of BR Ambedkar, the chief drafter of India's constitution — had a single demand: an investigation into the death of Sahil Wakode, whose family alleges he faced caste-based discrimination at the institute.

Police called the gathering unauthorised. Protesters said officers manhandled women while removing them from the site; among the detained was the stand-up comedian Masoom Rajwani, who wrote on Instagram afterwards: "Shame on police for using brute force, detaining eight woman, tearing clothes of one woman." He also alleged women were detained after 6 pm, which he says the law forbids. The police did not respond to the allegations. All of those detained were released from the Tardeo, Worli and Dadar stations after 8.30 pm.

Wakode died on September 18 — the same day, according to the institute, that an invigilator found him during an examination using a mobile phone to upload the question paper to ChatGPT. IIT-Bombay says the incident was discussed with the student, that he was counselled by the instructor, the faculty advisor and the head of department, and that no disciplinary action was taken. His parents say he was threatened with suspension.

Police have registered a case against Professor Suryanarayan Doolla — reportedly the exam's invigilator — and unidentified others, on charges of abetment to suicide and under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Wakode's father, Ravindra, alleges that Doolla had passed casteist remarks at his son for the previous three months, on the instructions of the institute's director, Shireesh B Kedare. Kedare denies that any caste discrimination occurred: "In fact caste-based information of every student is completely hidden and not available for anybody's information."

The institute's Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Cell, in an email to students, said it had received no complaint of caste discrimination from Sahil Wakode.