IIT Bombay Student Seen Being Pulled Aside During Exam In CCTV Footage
Mumbai: Fresh CCTV footage has shed more light on the moments when IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode was stopped during an examination, hours before he was found dead in his hostel room last Friday.
Wakode, a 22-year-old second-year student, can be seen sitting in the front row of an examination hall, wearing a black T-shirt. During the exam, invigilator Prof Suryanarayana Doolla approaches him and speaks to him.
The footage shows Wakode briefly getting up from his seat before sitting down again and handing his mobile phone to the professor. The two then appear to speak for some time. Wakode subsequently begins collecting his belongings and appears to leave the examination hall.
The incident took place on September 18. Hours later, Wakode was found hanging in his hostel room.
IIT Bombay had earlier said that Wakode was found using a mobile phone during the examination and had uploaded the question paper on ChatGPT to seek answers. The institute said at the time that no disciplinary proceedings had been initiated against him.
The circumstances surrounding his death have since led to serious allegations from his family. Wakode’s parents, Ravindra and Sonali, alleged that their son had faced harassment and caste discrimination at the institute. His father has also accused Prof Doolla of discriminating against his son and demanded action against him.
” Doolla used to discriminate against my son. My son had told me about this discrimination,” Ravindra Wakode had told reporters, adding that he had advised his son to continue with his studies despite the difficulties.
The allegations have been disputed by members of IIT Bombay’s faculty, who have defended Prof Doolla and said he was carrying out his responsibilities as an invigilator.
Prof Rajkumar Pant, chief of the IIT Bombay Faculty Forum, told NDTV that Wakode had allegedly indulged in malpractice during the examination and that Prof Doolla had reported the matter to the head of the department.
The institute later removed Prof Doolla from his position as dean of administration affairs. Sources have also said that he was subsequently sent on leave.
An abetment-to-suicide case was later registered against several people following a complaint filed by Wakode’s father.
The case has since raised questions about what happened inside the examination hall, the circumstances surrounding Wakode’s death, and the allegations made by his family. Investigations are expected to establish the sequence of events and examine the claims made by the different sides.
News Source : Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets.
