IIT Bombay student's death: Batchmate arrested on charge of abetment of suicide

In a purported suicide note recovered by the Special Investigation Team, deceased Darshan Solanki had mentioned that "Arman has killed me", according to a police official. 

The Mumbai police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) has arrested a batchmate of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay student Darshan Solanki in connection with the alleged abetment of his suicide, an official said.  

The accused, identified as Arman Khatri, and Solanki stayed on the same floor of a hostel of the IIT Bombay and both were batchmates, the official said. 

In a purported suicide note recovered by the SIT on March 3, Solanki had mentioned that "Arman has killed me", the official said. Solanki, who belonged to Ahmedabad in Gujarat and was a first-year BTech student, allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the seventh floor of a hostel building located on the IITB campus in suburban Powai on February 12 this year. The Mumbai police's SIT recently received a report from a handwriting expert, which said the handwriting in the purported suicide note recovered from the institute's hostel matched the writing samples of the deceased, confirming that it was written by him, an official earlier said. 

The Maharashtra government had formed an SIT to probe his death. His family has claimed that he faced discrimination at the premier institute for belonging to a Scheduled Caste (SC) community and suspected foul play in his death. However, the inquiry committee set up by the IITB has ruled out caste-based discrimination and hinted at deteriorating academic performance as a possible cause of suicide. 

Read more: 

• IIT Bombay student’s death: Suicide note matches deceased’s handwriting 
• IIT Bombay student's death: Police register suicide abetment case  
• IIT Bombay student’s death: Father writes to CM, alleging harassment by police