IIT Bombay Director Prof Shireesh Kedare has said he will resign following protests over the suicide of a 22-year-old student, with the institute’s Board scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss the issue.
“I will resign; however, I have to follow the process and will convey my decision after a meeting on Monday,” Kedare told protesting students late Sunday night.
The institute administration has also agreed to 18 demands raised by the protesters following the death of Sahil Ravindra Wakode, a second-year BTech student in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering.
Wakode, a native of Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his hostel room on the IIT Bombay campus on Friday evening, hours after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone and ChatGPT during a mid-semester examination, officials said.
His family has alleged that he faced institutional harassment and caste-based discrimination and was under severe academic pressure, including threats of suspension. The allegations triggered protests on the campus.
Following a complaint by Wakode’s parents, police registered an FIR on Saturday for abetment of suicide under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. A professor has been named as an accused, and the case is being investigated by the Crime Branch, police said.
IIT Bombay said Wakode had allegedly uploaded the examination question paper to ChatGPT to seek answers during the exam, but no disciplinary action had been initiated against him.
According to the institute, the instructor and Head of Department discussed the matter with Wakode, counselled him and assured him that the incident would not affect his academic career. He subsequently returned to his hostel room, where he was later found dead.
(With inputs from PTI)