IIT-B student suicide: Professor accused of caste discrimination suspended as dean

The Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay on Monday suspended a professor from his position as dean after he was accused of subjecting a student who died by suicide to caste-based discrimination, The Indian Express reported.

The professor, Suryanarayan Doolla, has been accused by the family of 20-year-old Sahil Wakode of subjecting him to caste-based discrimination for three months, allegedly on the instructions of IIT-Bombay Director Shireesh B Kedare. Wakode died by suicide on Friday.

Doolla will continue as a member of the teaching faculty and has only been removed from his administrative position.

Kedare communicated the decision to students in an email, The Indian Express reported.

On Saturday, the Mumbai Police filed a case against Doolla and unidentified persons on charges of abetment to suicide and under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act. The crime branch will investigate the case.

The suspension came amid protests at the institute following Wakode’s death.

On Sunday, Kedare accepted a charter of more than 18 demands submitted by the protesting students and assured them that the institute would look into them, the Hindustan Times reported. One of the demands was Doolla’s suspension as a professor. The students had also demanded Kedare’s resignation.

On Monday, IIT-Bombay denied reports that Kedare had resigned after accepting the students’ demands.

The institute also apologised for statements in an “earlier communication concerning the circumstances surrounding...

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