00:00The IIT Bombay, the death of 20-year-old Sahil Vakode has triggered a bitter campus divide.
00:05His parents, while staging a protest, allege caste harassment and blame Professor Surya Narayan Dulla and senior institute officials.
00:13Sahil's parents have recorded their statements, alleging caste slurs, threats and harassment.
00:18They are demanding the arrest of Professor Dulla and Director Shirish Kedare.
00:23But the faculty has a very different version.
00:25IIT Bombay's Faculty Forum has backed Professor Dulla, saying that there is no evidence of caste-related remarks and that
00:31he was simply discharging his duties.
00:34And India Today has learned that the probe is now chasing crucial leads.
00:38Sahil's phone remains locked, technical help is being sought to unlock it and police will probe whether he had complained
00:44about caste harassment before his death or not.
00:46The case has also been transferred to the Mumbai Crime Branch, who have recorded the statement of students who were
00:52present in the exam hall and also Sahil's friend.
00:55Meanwhile, the IIT Bombay campus is split.
00:58Students are protesting demanding justice for Sahil, while another section is backing Professor Dulla.
01:28The other section is called the
01:45And my colleague Dipesh Tripathi is now joining us with more details on this.
01:49Dipesh, the parents of Sahil Vakode continue to claim that this is a case of caste harassment
01:53that has led to Sahil eventually ending his life.
01:58But do they have any evidence to back this claim?
02:07Sahil's parents were claiming that the Sahil was telling them from past three months that
02:13he has been harassed in the IIT Bombay College in the campus and he has been discriminated
02:21on behalf because of his caste and other things.
02:25So parents have mentioned that thing in their FIR as well which they recorded in the Pawai
02:30police station and they have and yesterday crime branch Mumbai recorded the statement
02:36of Sahil's father Ravi Vakmode.
02:39In his statement also he stated the same thing that Sahil has complained earlier as well that
02:44he has been harassed in the IIT Pawai and he has been discriminated as well.
02:48So now the crime branch will investigate this case and we have to see that what proof they
02:55have submitted to the crime branch or what documents or what recordings if any recordings they have
03:02and they have submitted to the crime branch as all the electronic gadgets of the Sahil mobile,
03:08laptop and computer has been seized by the Mumbai crime branch and they are also going through
03:13pit and we have to see that what exactly the evidence was submitted by the Sahil's parents.
03:21All right, Dipesh do stay with us.
03:24So the investigation continues and the cops are now trying to unlock Sahil's phone
03:29and that is very crucial to this investigation.
03:32In fact, some more news coming in.
03:34The IIT Bombay management has sent the accused Professor Surya Narayan Dulla on leave.
03:39The IIT Bombay management has constituted a ten-member panel to investigate this entire matter.
03:44The panel will submit its report within a week.
03:47Meanwhile, Professor Dulla has been sent on leave by the IIT Bombay management.
03:53So accused in this case Professor Surya Narayan Dulla has been sent on leave.
03:57Meanwhile, a ten-member panel will be investigating this entire matter and will be submitting its report within a week.
04:05My colleague Dipesh continues to stay with us.
04:07Dipesh gives us more details on this latest development.
04:18Yes, in the FIR Professor Surya Narayan Dulla was mentioned as the main accused.
04:24And now the IIT Bombay has sent him on leave and they have formed a ten-member panel to inquire
04:32this case,
04:32to investigate this case that what exactly happened and what exactly happened in that specific time during
04:39when Sahil Bakmode was caught seeing in the mobile by the Professor Dulla.
04:44So this ten-member of the IIT Bombay will investigate this case and they have to submit the report within
04:51a week.
04:51And we have to see that what they find because we have seen that all the IIT alumni came and
05:00showed their support towards the Dulla.
05:02And now IIT Bombay himself formed a committee and they are going to investigate this case and they will try
05:09to find out what exactly happened.
05:11And they have to submit the report within a week and we have to see what exactly we will see
05:18in the report.
05:19All right, Dipesh do stay with us. So the investigation continues. The parents have recorded their statements.
05:25They recorded their statements yesterday. Now the big claim that the parents are making is that this is a case
05:30of caste harassment
05:31and that is what led to Sahil allegedly ending his life and hence they are demanding action against Professor Dulla.
05:39But the campus is split. The faculty is backing Professor Dulla. The students are also now divided.
05:45A group of students are demanding action against Professor Dulla.
05:50Whereas there is another section which is backing Professor Dulla and saying that he was just exercising his duty.
05:56Some more news coming in.
05:57In fact, the Mumbai crime branch has summoned the accused Professor Surya Narayan Dulla for questioning today.
06:03The crime branch may question Professor Dulla today. Just yesterday the crime branch recorded the statements of the victims,
06:12student Sahil's parents in connection with this case. And now today what we are learning is that Professor Dulla, the
06:18accused in this case,
06:19he is likely to be questioned by the Mumbai crime branch.
06:23My colleague Dipesh continues to stay with us. Dipesh, that's the big update that is coming in.
06:27That after the parents who were questioned yesterday, now Professor Dulla is likely to be questioned by the Mumbai crime
06:34branch today.
06:39Yes, definitely when the case was shifted from Mumbai police to the Mumbai crime branch, then the crime branch was
06:46making the ground ready for the investigation.
06:48And now after collecting all the CCTVs from the premises recording the statement of the Sahil parents,
06:53Mumbai crime branch has summoned to Professor Dulla and today mostly the Professor Dulla's statement will be recorded by the
07:02crime branch.
07:03Let me tell you that Professor Dulla is the main person whose name mentioned in the FIR by the Sahil's
07:11parents.
07:12And investigation of the crime branch will be mostly dependent on the Professor Dulla's statement as well
07:18because Professor Dulla was the person who caught Sahil Wakmode while seeing the mobile.
07:23So that's why Professor Dulla's statement is very crucial and very important for the crime branch for the further investigation.
07:28And we have to see that what Professor Dulla has to say exactly.
07:32This is the first time when Professor Dulla will record his statement and the probe of the crime branch will
07:37start.
07:39All right, Dipesh, thank you for those details.
07:41We'll keep coming back to you for more updates on the story that we're closely tracking.
07:45Let's also now take a look at the past record, the figures, where do the numbers stand as far as
07:50the IIT student suicide is concerned.
07:53So between 2020 and 2025, a total of 45 student suicides were reported across 23 IITs.
08:01Of these, 12 students were from the OBC category, 9 were from the Scheduled Caste category, 7 were from the
08:08Scheduled Tribe category,
08:09and 16 were from the General category, and 1 was from the Economically Weaker Section category.
08:15This is as per the government's reply in the Lok Sabha in 2025.
08:19So that's how the numbers look like. The highest number is in fact from the General category.
08:24.
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