Sahil Wakode case: Family's protest enters day 15 as arrest demand grows

Student organisations and civil rights groups, including the All India Independent Scheduled Castes Association (AIISCA) and the All India Students' Federation (AISF), protested at Azad Maidan in Mumbai on Friday, demanding the arrest of two IIT Bombay professors named in connection with the death of student Sahil Wakode on September 18. The demonstration coincided with the fifteenth day of the Wakode family's agitation.

The two named are Suryanarayana Doolla, Professor of Energy Science and Engineering, and Shireesh B. Kedare, Director of IIT Bombay. The family and protesting groups have accused them of harassing Wakode before his death. No arrest has been made so far. Under Indian law, a person named in a first information report (FIR) is presumed innocent unless a court finds otherwise, and the registration of an FIR is not a finding of guilt.

The FIR, registered at Powai police station, invokes Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with abetment of suicide, and Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Ravindra Wakode, the student's father, said the protest would continue until arrests were made. "My only request is that they arrest those responsible as soon as possible and give my Sahil justice," he said. He added that the family plans to gather outside IIT Bombay at noon on Sunday, October 18, to pay tribute to Sahil and mark one month since his death. An application for police permission has been submitted and approval is awaited.

Siddharth Ingle, the advocate representing the family, questioned the pace of the investigation. He said Section 108 carries a maximum punishment of ten years and is a non-bailable offence, and argued that the Crime Branch should have taken the two professors into custody and interrogated them. He said Doolla was called to record his statement nearly twenty days after the incident.

"We are asking the police to explain why arrests have not been made," Ingle said, adding that the family had met Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Kumbhare on Thursday and had not received a satisfactory explanation. He also raised the possibility of evidence being tampered with or witnesses being influenced, noting that Doolla had been removed from an administrative position but continued as a professor. These are the family's contentions; the police have said the investigation is under way.

Ingle further said the family had unanswered questions about a period of roughly six to seven hours before Wakode returned to his room, including who met him and where he was taken. He appealed to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to show sensitivity towards the family's demands, adding that the family did not wish to create problems for the government but wanted a fair investigation.

Protesters also criticised IIT Bombay's reiteration of its 2023 anti-discrimination guidelines, which discourage questions about JEE or GATE scores and admission categories. AIISCA member Arya Wankhede said caste could be inferred from surnames, language and social background, and that avoiding such questions would not make discrimination disappear. He questioned the delay in both the institute's internal inquiry and the police investigation.

Another AIISCA member, Pradhyuman Bele, asked why the investigation had not been concluded nearly a month after the death. The protesters demanded a transparent investigation and stronger safeguards against caste discrimination on campus. The institute has publicly restated its guidelines, while the police have maintained that the probe is continuing.