IIT-Bombay ‘suicide’: Interim report rules out casteism against Dalit student

There is no specific evidence to indicate that the 18-year-old student of chemical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, who allegedly died by suicide last month, was facing caste discrimination on the campus, according to an interim report by a committee that was set up by the institute to probe the case.

The student, a native of Ahmedabad, had also performed poorly in the second half of the autumn semester (January onwards) and must have been affected by his results, the report added.

The student died after he allegedly jumped off the eighth floor of his hostel building on Powai campus of the institute on February 12. His family alleged that he faced caste discrimination at the premier institute and suspect he was “murdered”.

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A 12-member Interim Inquiry Committee was appointed by the institute under the chairmanship of professor Nand Kishore, Department of Chemistry, IITB, on February 13 to probe the incident. The faculty, students’ representative and other staff members were also part of the panel. The interim report, seen by HT, was submitted on Monday.

“Other than the statement of the deceased’s sister, there is no specific evidence of direct caste-based discrimination faced by him during his stay in IITB,” the report said.

“His academic performance in various courses deteriorated in the second half of the autumn semester. His perceived poor academic performance must have seriously affected him,” the report added.

The panel ruled out the possibility of substance abuse, accident or homicide. “After exploring various possible factors, it appears that the tragic incident was a case of suicide,” the report said.

On February 15, the deceased’s sister had alleged that the “institute is trying to protect its reputation by calling it a suicide”. “My brother was murdered. All his life, he strongly condemned suicide. He would casually tell me how the upper caste students looked down upon fellow students belonging to the lower caste,” she said.

She also alleged that several other students belonging to the lower caste were mocked by students for “enjoying freebies in education at such a great institute”.

The report clarified that in the absence of call details, forensic analysis of the phone/laptop, and post-mortem report, the committee at present cannot arrive at a final conclusion on what actually triggered the student to take the extreme step.