Special Team To Investigate Dalit Student's Suicide At IIT Bombay

The Maharashtra government has formed a special investigation team (SIT) headed by a senior police officer to conduct a probe into the alleged suicide of an 18-year-old student of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, a police official said on Tuesday.

Darshan Solanki, who hailed from Ahmedabad in Gujarat and was a first-year student of B Tech (Chemical) course at the IITB, allegedly committed 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 IITB for belonging to a Scheduled Caste community and suspected foul play in his death.

Gujarat Congress MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani had demanded a probe by the SIT into Solanki's death, terming the episode as "suspicious".

On February 24, the government had ordered a probe into Solanki's death, the official said.

The SIT, headed by Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Lakhmi Gautam, will revisit the case and record the statements of Solanki's parents, officials of the institute and students who were witness to the incident, he said.

It will also conduct a probe into the allegations made by various student groups that Solanki faced caste discrimination, he said.

After Solanki's death, the Powai police here had registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) and recorded the statements of multiple people, including IITB students.

"Now, the SIT will conduct a probe into the case," the official added.

A Mumbai Police team on February 16 visited Gujarat to record the statements of Solanki's parents.

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