Why are students protesting at IIT-Bombay? | Explained

On September 18, 20-year-old Dalit student Sahil Wakode died by suicide in his hostel room at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He was a second-year B.Tech student. Sahil’s parents have claimed their son was facing caste discrimination. They registered an FIR against the faculty of IIT-Bombay, invoking provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Mumbai Crime Branch is continuing its probe. Meanwhile, IIT-Bombay has constituted a 10-member inquiry committee and accepted the 18 demands made by the students. The institute had initially stated that Sahil was apprehended for cheating during an examination. It later apologised and said: “It was inappropriate to have set out or characterised details relating to the events preceding his demise before they had been duly established through the appropriate investigative process.”