Letter to the President of India on the Death of Sahil Wakode at IIT,  Bombay

 
To,  
Smt. Droupadi Murmu 
Hon'ble President of India and Visitor, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay 
Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi 110004 

Subject: Suicide of Sahil Wakode, and our call for accountability and policy reform across all campuses 

Respected Madam President, 

We write as the Global IIT-IIM Alumni Network, a group of alumni of the IITs and IIMs. Many of us have 
walked the same corridors and lived in the same hostels as Sahil Wakode. We write with heavy grief, and 
with a resolve that his suicide must not become one more forgotten case among the untimely deaths IIT 
Bombay has seen in recent years. 
Sahil, a second-year student of Energy Science and Engineering from Yavatmal, died in his room in Hostel 
4 on 18 September 2026. He was not merely an individual with the aspiration to make his mark on the 
world through his intellect and dedication. He also carried the hopes of generations denied opportunity: 
of an underprivileged family, and of a marginalised community that saw IIT Bombay as a door opening. 
His success would have inspired his whole community and made the Institute proud of its contribution to 
nation building and to a larger social cause. We extend our deepest condolences to his parents, relatives 
and friends, and we stand with them in their demand for a better campus atmosphere. 
Years later, we still remember the pride of arriving at this esteemed campus, many of us the first in our 
families to do so, and the joy of receiving our admission letters. Yet once campus life began, almost all of 
us felt the quiet weight of rank questions, whispered remarks about "quota", and the loneliness of not 
knowing whom to trust when things went wrong. That memory is why we cannot stay silent. IIT Bombay 
is one of the finest institutions in the country for its academic and scientific contribution, and we want it 
to become better still for the generations of students to come. 
Many of the best and brightest SC/ST/OBC students choose IIT Bombay every year as a stepping stone to 
build their careers, yet the Institute has disregarded the sincerity and dedication with which they 
overcome the barriers placed before them. No one can deny that many SC/ST/OBC alumni have faced 
repeated disrespectful comments, alienation in classrooms and hostels, and a generally discouraging 
atmosphere on campus, including from faculty members. 

Why we are writing 
Sahil's is the third student death by suicide on the Powai campus in 2026. Three and a half years ago, in 
February 2023, we lost Darshan Solanki, a Dalit first-year student. After every incident, the student 
community and family members were promised reflection and reform. Each time, students tell us that 
little has changed on the ground. 
Sahil's death is part of a national pattern. Figures placed before Parliament show that more than 120 
students died by suicide in centrally funded higher education institutions between 2014 and 2021, more 
than half of them from SC, ST and OBC communities, and that around 60 students died by suicide in the 
IITs, NITs and IIMs alone between 2018 and 2023. Media reports on more recent data from the IITs 
suggest that these numbers have not come down, and that SC, ST and OBC students still account for a 
majority of the deaths. Responses that begin and end at one campus have not changed this. The 
problem is national, and so must be the remedy. 
Sahil's family has filed a complaint alleging caste-based harassment, and an FIR has been registered 
under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The investigation now 
rests with the Mumbai Crime Branch. We do not presume the outcome of that investigation. We do 
insist that it be allowed to proceed fully, fairly and without institutional pressure of any kind. 
We are deeply troubled by the Institute's first public statement of 19 September, which described the 
circumstances of Sahil's final day before any inquiry had begun. We note that the Institute withdrew 
those remarks and apologised later, and that Prof. Doolla has been relieved of his administrative post. 
We acknowledge these steps. But these actions are too little and too late. A statement that had to be 
retracted within two days tells us that the Institute's first instinct was to explain, not to listen. That 
instinct to deny without accountability is what must change.  
We are also concerned that the Institute has publicly stated that no caste discrimination occurred 
because no complaint reached the SC/ST Cell. The absence of a complaint is not evidence of the absence 
of discrimination. It may instead be evidence that students do not trust the mechanisms meant to 
protect them. Multiple allegations, research surveys and repeated suicides clearly point to an unhealthy 
atmosphere on campus, one that harms the Institute's reputation and its appeal to prospective students 
and faculty. As Visitor of IIT Bombay and of many other centrally funded institutions, you are in a 
position to ensure that this changes. We respectfully urge you to direct the Ministry of Education, the IIT 
Council and the institutions concerned to take the following steps, at IIT Bombay and across all 
campuses. 

Call for Action 
At IIT Bombay 
1. Full cooperation with the police investigation. Preserve and hand over all records from 18 
September, including exam-hall CCTV, invigilation records, emails and messages, and statements 
of everyone present. No internal communication should pre-judge the facts while the probe 
continues. 
2. An independent inquiry into the Institute's own role. Constitute a committee chaired by a 
faculty member, with SC/ST members drawn from the faculty and student body, along with at 
least one external mental-health expert. It should examine how Sahil was treated after the exam 
incident and why the Institute's first statement was issued as it was. Its findings should be made 
public. 
3. Support for Sahil's family. Extend all assistance to his family, including support with legal costs 
and any compensation due, and keep them informed throughout. 

Across all campuses 
1. A binding national framework against caste discrimination. Issue enforceable rules for every 
centrally funded higher education institution, with a clear definition of caste-based 
discrimination and harassment, time-bound handling of complaints, and consequences for 
institutions and individuals who fail to act. Compliance should be a condition of funding and 
accreditation. 
2. Mandatory training. Provide regular and mandatory caste-sensitive training to all faculty and 
students to explain the reason behind reservations and India’s diversity, equity, inclusion and 
belonging.  
3. Independent oversight. Set up a national body, independent of the institutions it monitors, to 
receive complaints that students cannot safely raise on their own campus, audit each 
institution's compliance, and report to Parliament every year.  
4. Faculty representation. The most important reason for SC/ST/OBC students' distrust of campus 
administrations is the lack of SC/ST/OBC representation among faculty. According to current 
published data, fewer than one in ten of IIT Bombay's faculty come from SC/ST/OBC 
communities, and other institutions show a similar pattern. Every institution should fill all 
reserved faculty vacancies within a fixed timeline and report its progress publicly. This will go a 
long way towards building trust and a healthy atmosphere on campus. 
5. SC/ST Cells that students can trust. Every institution should have an SC/ST Cell independent of 
the academic departments it oversees, with a full-time staffed office, a confidential and 
anonymous reporting channel, and time-bound handling of complaints. Each Cell should publish 
an annual report of complaints received and their outcomes, while protecting students' 
anonymity. Its staff should include SC/ST members, so that students trust the Cell and feel 
confident approaching it. 
6. A humane protocol for academic misconduct. No student accused of malpractice should be 
questioned without a written procedure and a faculty adviser or peer present, and every such 
student should receive a wellbeing check afterwards. No student should be left alone after the 
worst day of their life. 
7. Mental-health support that reflects the student body. Every institution should recruit 
counsellors from SC, ST and OBC backgrounds and counsellors trained in caste-related trauma, 
make counselling available round the clock, including by phone and online, and share 
anonymised usage data so the community can judge whether it works. 
8. Transparent national data. Publish yearly figures for every institution on student deaths, 
dropouts and academic terminations, disaggregated by category, in line with the concerns raised 
by the Supreme Court's National Task Force on student mental health. 
9. A standing role for alumni. We offer to build a structured mentorship network linking SC/ST 
students with alumni on every campus, and ask the Ministry and the institutions to formally 
partner with us on it. 
We are writing this letter not as adversaries but as people who owe these institutions a great deal and 
want them to be worthy of every student they admit. IIT Bombay and its sister institutions made many of 
us who we are. We want every campus to be a place where the next generation can build a bright future 
for themselves and serve the nation and society. We respectfully urge you to give this matter the serious 
and timely attention it deserves, so that the values of fairness, dignity, and opportunity that define these 
institutions are protected for every student who walks through their doors.  

Yours sincerely, 

Global IIT-IIM Alumni Network

Arunkumar Khobragade, IIM Calcutta

Santosh Kumar IIT Bombay , IIM Ahmedabad

Anil Wagde, IIM Calcutta

Dr. Santoshkumar Phulpagar, IIT Delhi, IIM Ahmedabad

 

Copy to: 
• Hon'ble Minister of Education, Government of India, and Chairman, IIT Council 
• Council of Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT Council), through its Member Secretary 
• Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education 
• Prof. Shireesh B. Kedare, Director, IIT Bombay 
• Chairperson, Board of Governors, IIT Bombay 
• Deputy Directors, IIT Bombay 
• Dean of Student Affairs, IIT Bombay 
• Registrar, IIT Bombay 
• Liaison Officer, SC/ST Cell, IIT Bombay