IIT Bombay student's death | Alumni, students' groups write to Fadnavis, seek FIR

The Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle at IIT Bombay urged the Maharashtra Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis to direct the police to register an FIR in the death of the first-year student, Darshan Solanki, who died by suicide in February.

At least two students' collectives of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay have requested Maharashtra Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis to direct the police to register an FIR in the death of the first-year student, Darshan Solanki, who allegedly died by suicide in February.

The State Government has already formed a special investigation team (SIT) headed by a senior police officer to probe the death.

In an e-mail-cum-letter written to Mr. Fadnavis on March 21, the students' groups claimed the SIT investigation is based on the Accidental Death Report (ADR) filed by the police, and "the refusal of the SIT to base their investigation on FIR is a failure to recognise the rights of the family".

This letter is written by Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC), Ambedkarite Students Collective (ASC) and a concerned alumni group of IIT Bombay. The APPSC also tweeted a photograph of Solanki with a caption that he would have turned 19 on Tuesday.

Solanki, who hailed from Ahmedabad in Gujarat and was a first-year student of the B Tech (Chemical) course, allegedly died by suicide by jumping off the seventh floor of a hostel building located on the campus on February 12.

His family had claimed he faced discrimination at the IIT-B for belonging to a Scheduled Caste community and suspected foul play in his death.

However, the inquiry committee set up by the IIT-B has ruled out caste-based discrimination and hinted at deteriorating academic performance as a possible cause of suicide.