After the Maharashtra government handed over the IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode's suicide probe to the Mumbai Crime Branch, the institute backtracked on its earlier statements, in which it claimed that the deceased cheated in an exam using ChatGPT, linking his death to it.
The institute issued a fresh statement on social media platform X, withdrawing all its statements about the suicide of the second-year engineering student and apologised.
“We apologise for the statements contained in our earlier communication concerning the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate demise of Sahil. The details and circumstances leading up to the incident remain subject to investigation by the appropriate authorities,” read the post.
It further stated, “In view of the ongoing investigation, it was inappropriate to have set out or characterised details relating to the events preceding his demise before they had been duly established through the appropriate investigative process.”
The IIT Bombay also clarified that its Director, Shireesh Kedare, who was earlier seen in a viral video of resigning from his post in connection with Wakode's suicide, has not resigned and assured that a fair and impartial probe has been carried out in this case.
Wakode died by suicide after falling from his 14th-floor apartment. This is the fourth suicide in the last seven months at IIT Bombay.
The deceased's father alleged that his son was a bright student since his school days and even got good marks in the first year of his engineering. He alleged abetment to suicide and harassment.
Sahil's father said that his son is a victim of caste-based discrimination. He alleged that for the last three months, his professor and officers of the IIT Bombay harassed him by making casteist slurs against him, even though he was a bright student.
IIT Bombay issued a note saying Sahil's death was an unfortunate incident and clarified that he was allegedly caught using ChatGPT during the exam, which could have led to the suicide.
The father claimed that the ChatGPT story is a made-up story to tarnish the image of his deceased son and shrug off the responsibility for this incident. He demanded the professor's arrest under the SC/ST Act.
Meanwhile, the institute has agreed to discuss and act on an 18-point charter of demands raised by student protestors, following a late-night meeting. It has also suspended the invigilating professor Suryanarayana Doolla.