IITB student who ended life had spoken of caste discrimination on campus: Student group

Darshan confided in Udaysingh Meena that his roommate, mentors and wing-mates were from the general category and reduced talking to him after coming to know about his rank which is a marker for his category, said Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle.

A students’ organisation has alleged that Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay student Darshan Solanki, who allegedly committed suicide, had told a senior that he was facing caste bias on campus. However, IIT Bombay refuted the charge of caste bias, The Telegraph reported. 

Darshan Solanki, a resident of Ahmedabad, who was pursuing BTech in chemical engineering from IIT Bombay, allegedly jumped off the seventh floor of his hostel building. 

The Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC) said Udaysingh Meena, then a final year student of chemical engineering, had stated that Solanki was facing caste discrimination and exam-related depression. It also demanded that the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act be invoked in the case, and the IIT should carry out an independent investigation through a panel with at least 50 per cent SC/ST representation. 

“Darshan confided in Uday that his roommate, mentors and wing-mates were from the general category and reduced talking to him after coming to know about his rank which is a marker for his category. The combined issue of academic pressure and caste discrimination, along with a lack of mental health and academic support might have pushed him to take such an extreme step,” the APPSC statement said. 

The APPSC had called Solanki's death an institutional murder. The institute also said it takes utmost precautions to make the campus as inclusive as possible and it has zero tolerance for any discrimination by faculty. 

Caste identity is never disclosed to any one (whether students or faculty) once the admission is done and the institute sensitises students to not seek proxy information such as ranks in entrance exams, it said. While no steps can be 100 per cent effective, discrimination by students, if at all it occurs, is an exception, the premier institute said. IIT Bombay has an SC/ST student cell where students can reach in case of any issues including discrimination, and there have been very few complaints to the cell over the past many years, it said. 

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