Students standing in support of the 20-year-old IIT Bombay student who allegedly died by suicide last week have demanded that the committee set up to investigate his death be dissolved and replaced with an independent external body. The students and the deceased’s parents have raised concerns about the lack of impartiality of the existing committee, alleging that some of its members had publicly supported former dean of student affairs Prof Suryanarayana Doolla even before the inquiry was completed.

Students standing in support of the 20-year-old IIT Bombay student who allegedly died by suicide last week have demanded that the committee set up to investigate his death be dissolved and replaced with an independent external body. (Praful Gangurde/HT Photo)

The protesters have sought the inclusion of at least two persons from among former Planning Commission member Bhalchandra Mungekar, journalist P Sainath, activist Ram Puniyani and academic Sukhadeo Thorat in the new committee. Alleging that the administration failed to address student safety concerns and mishandled the case, they have also sought the resignation of IIT-Bombay director Shireesh Kedare and the suspension of Prof Doolla until the completion of the criminal investigation.

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The Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC), an IIT-Bombay student collective, has also issued a statement asking for an external investigation. APPSC has demanded that the committee be headed by an SC/ST person and include at least one external member with expertise in such matters. It has also sought 50% SC/ST representation and a minimum of five women members from different disciplines.

Along with their demand for an independent inquiry, the students have sought several institutional and other reforms (see box). On Friday night, they held a candlelight march from the Justice Corner at the main gate to Hostel 4 to mark one week of the student’s death and reiterate their demand for a new investigation committee.

The student’s parents, who are currently observing a hunger strike at Azad Maidan, have released a video appealing to IIT Bombay students to support their demand for a fair inquiry. In the video, they said that instead of being allowed time to mourn the death of their son, they had faced continued harassment from the police.

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The father also raised concerns about the IIT Bombay administration’s statement on an alleged cheating incident involving his son, saying it was released without a fair inquiry and had led to a public discussion about his son’s character. The parents said the damage caused to the family could not be corrected by a “half-hearted apology”.

The parents reiterated the students’ demand for an external investigation committee and the suspension of Prof Doolla until the inquiry was completed. They also demanded that they be allowed to visit the IIT Bombay campus whenever they chose to.