Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Twenty-two IIT Bombay students were detained by police on Sunday during a protest seeking justice for Sahil Wakode, a 22-year-old student who was found dead in his hostel room last month, news agency Press Trust of India reported, citing student bodies.
The protesters alleged that police used excessive force, including tearing their clothes, kicking and choking them. Eight students were allegedly detained twice during the day, while police and IIT Bombay authorities had not issued a detailed statement on the detentions or the allegations.
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Students and members of various collectives have been protesting near the institute’s gates in Mumbai’s Powai area for a month. Their agitation, which included a 15-day hunger strike, has raised allegations of caste discrimination and institutional apathy surrounding Wakode’s death.
Wakode, a second-year BTech student, was found dead on September 18 after he was allegedly caught cheating during a mid-semester examination. Sunday marked a month since his alleged suicide, and students had planned a memorial and a ‘mashal juloos’, or torchlight procession.
Student representatives alleged that a large number of police personnel entered the campus in the morning. After being detained initially and released briefly, the students gathered at the protest site with Wakode’s grieving parents to pay tribute to him.
The protesters alleged that campus security personnel and police later dismantled the protest site and forcibly removed those present. They also claimed that female students were inappropriately touched and physically assaulted. All 22 detained students were taken to Powai police station, according to the student bodies.
The demonstrators questioned the IIT Bombay administration over the deployment of police inside the campus and asked who had authorised the action.
Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad and representatives of several Ambedkarite organisations later reached the spot and staged a protest, demanding an immediate meeting with the Chairperson of the Board of Governors and the Director.
Officials at Powai police station were not immediately available for comment, PTI reported. The institute authorities had also not responded to the detentions or the allegations of excessive force.
Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke criticised the Mumbai Police over the alleged incident. “Shameful, to say the least. Every single day, the police stoop to a new low,” he said in a post on X.
Wakode’s parents have continued their hunger strike at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, demanding action and accountability from the institute administration. They have accused Professor Suryanarayana Doolla of harassment and caste-based discrimination. Police questioned Doolla for nearly 10 hours earlier this month in connection with the alleged suicide.
The students are continuing their protest over Wakode’s death and the allegations surrounding it, while detailed responses from the police and IIT Bombay authorities on Sunday’s detentions and the claims of excessive force are awaited.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
