IIT-B Dalit student’s death | Darshan Solanki’s family disputes police version of events, seek FIR based on their complaint

In a fresh development in the case related to the alleged suicide of 18-year-old Dalit student Darshan Solanki inside IIT-Bombay (IIT-B), the victim’s family on Wednesday disputed the version of events as presented to them by the Mumbai Police

In a fresh development in the case related to the alleged suicide of 18-year-old Dalit student Darshan Solanki inside IIT-Bombay (IIT-B), the victim’s family on Wednesday disputed the version of events as presented to them by the Mumbai Police, even as investigators looking into the case said that they were “waiting for a complaint from the family” to lodge a First Information Report (FIR). 

In a letter addressed to the Chief Minister and Home Minister of Maharashtra, and the Mumbai Police Commissioner, Rameshbhai Solanki, Darshan Solanki’s father, on Wednesday said that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case had asked the family to visit them on March 27. 

That afternoon, Mr. Rameshbhai Solanki said the police had shown the family a “pre-typed” complaint copy, the contents of which the family members dispute. Darshan Solanki’s father said that the details in the complaint did not match with the complaint they had submitted a week ago, and insisted that the police treat their initial complaint as the contents for the FIR. 

The family had come to Mumbai from Ahmedabad last week to submit a formal complaint for an FIR at the Powai Police Station. The police station took the complaint and sent a copy to the SIT for further action. Mr. Rameshbhai Solanki added that they had also submitted this complaint to the SIT. 

On Monday, senior police officials had told The Hindu that they had found a note purportedly written by the victim, blaming one of his classmates for the extreme step he had taken. They had added they were in the process of registering an FIR under Sections related to abetment to suicide and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. 

However, on Wednesday, investigators said that they were waiting for a complaint from the family alleging abetment to suicide, even as they continued to investigate the case as a matter involving abetment to suicide. 

Rameshbhai Solanki, in Wednesday’s letter, said that they were called by the police on March 16 to examine a note, and asked to identify if the handwriting belonged to Darshan Solanki. While Darshan Solanki’s mother had identified the writing as that of her son’s, Rameshbhai Solanki, his daughter, and his father, did not. The note was written on the back of a printed paper, which appeared to be some kind of a question paper, Rameshbhai Solanki said.