Student group wants details of committee set up to probe IIT Bombay student’s death

The Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle demands that the names and the terms of reference of the committee should be made public for a fair investigation. 

The Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC), a student body within the IIT Bombay campus, has issued a statement saying that the investigation committee formed by the IIT Bombay administration to investigate Darshan Solanki’s death is neither transparent nor independent as the panel does not include any external member who is supposed to identify if the institute was at fault.  

Solanki, 18, a student at IIT Bombay, allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the seventh floor of a hostel building located on the campus.  

The statement issued by the student body reads, “We came to know yesterday that a committee has allegedly been constituted by the IIT Bombay administration but no official communication about it has been received by the campus community. We had demanded for an independent committee which had external experts who understand caste discrimination. But we came to know that there is no external member.” 

It further reads, “We demand that the names and the terms of reference of the committee should be made public. It should at least be communicated with the campus community that such a committee has been constituted and has started its work. There should also be an open call for whoever wants to testify before the committee. It is relevant because the family has raised questions about the hostile environment of the institute of SC/ST students. We suspect that the committee is formed to give a clean chit to the institute as they did earlier in the Aniket Ambhore case. Committee may put blame on students instead of self introspection and solving caste hostility on campus.” 

“We reiterate our demand for resignation of the director as there is no hope for a fair investigation under this administration. The SC/ST cell should stop acting like a puppet of the administration and remember its commitment to students,” it said. 

“We also demand that the caste discrimination survey conducted in February 2022 and mental health survey conducted in June 2022 by the SC/ST cell should be released and action should be taken on the restitution of harassment that were received," the statement added.

Read more: 

• It was not a suicide, my brother was killed, says IIT Bombay student’s sister
• IITB student who ended life had spoken of caste discrimination on campus: Student group
• IIT Bombay student jumps to death