Days after a massive students protest at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay), a professor of the institute was named as an accused in connection with the alleged suicide of a student on the institute’s Powai campus, reported the PTI.
The investigation has now been transferred to the Mumbai Crime Branch, police officials said on Sunday.
The deceased was a second-year BTech student in the Energy Science and Engineering department.
He was found dead in his room on Friday evening, hours after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone during a mid-semester examination, the news agency reported.
Parents allege harassment, caste discrimination
According to the PTI, his parents have alleged that their son faced institutional harassment and caste-based discrimination before his death.
Based on their complaint, Powai police registered a case on Saturday under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), relating to abetment of suicide, along with relevant provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
An IIT Bombay professor has been named as an accused in the case.
Probe transferred to Mumbai Crime Branch
The investigation has been transferred to the Mumbai Crime Branch and will be handled by an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Detection, a police official said.
No arrests have been made so far. Further investigation is underway to establish the circumstances surrounding the student’s death and examine the allegations made in the complaint.
In a statement issued on Friday night, IIT Bombay said the student had been found using a mobile phone during the examination.
However, the institute said no disciplinary action had been initiated against him, reported the PTI.
According to the institute, the instructor and Head of Department discussed the matter with the student and counselled him. They reportedly also assured him that the incident would not adversely affect his academic career, as per the PTI.
The student subsequently returned to his hostel room and was found dead later that evening, the institute said.
Students protest on campus
The incident triggered protests at IIT Bombay, with students demanding an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death.
Need help? Here are suicide prevention helplines-
Samaritans Mumbai (Monday to Friday from 10 am to 4 pm): 84229-84527
Connecting NGO (From 10 am to 8 pm): 9922004305/9922001122
Snehi (From 10 am to 10 pm): 9376804102
1 Life: 7893078930
Aasra: 9820466726
(with PTI inputs)
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