IIT-B suicide: While one group seeks accountability, another is rallying around prof

MUMBAI: IIT-Bombay on Monday temporarily relieved Prof Suryanarayana Doolla of his duties as dean of administrative affairs pending an investigation, following three consecutive days of student protests over the death by suicide of second-year BTech student Sahil Wakode on Sept 18.Doolla, who has been accused by Wakode’s family of abetment, will continue as a professor in the department of energy science and engineering. Institute sources said he was being relieved of his administrative responsibilities to ensure that the investigation remained independent and unbiased. Some students who continued their protest demanded that he be relieved of his academic work too in the interim.IIT-B also apologised for its earlier communication in which it said Wakode had been found with a phone during an exam and had uploaded questions on an AI platform.