23 September,2026 10:16 PM IST | Mumbai | Aditi Alurkar
Representational image. File pic
Protests continued outside the main gate of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) in Powai on Wednesday, days after a student died by suicide in his hostel room after allegedly being caught cheating during mid-semester exams.
The protest comes even after the students inside the campus have distanced themselves from these activities via social media statements.
The circumstances surrounding the death of the student have since triggered protests and allegations of caste-based discrimination.
While academic activities continued normally inside the institute on Wednesday, students were informed that mental health support infrastructure had been strengthened on September 23.
Counselling hours were increased at some hostels and were scheduled to continue until 9 pm, according to students.
"The counselling hours were increased, and the campus life is slowly getting back to normal. A change we are seeing at the moment is that all delivery partners are being restricted at the gate for student safety," a campus resident said.
On September 23, members of the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi staged a demonstration outside the IIT Bombay gate in support of the deceased student and allegations of caste-based discrimination.
At the same time, some IIT Bombay alumni and independent groups have questioned the basis of the allegations and called for a further probe into the circumstances surrounding the student's death.
Vinay Joshi, leading the Legal Rights Observatory, said, "We have written an email complaint to the Mumbai Police about professors and advocates for allegedly spreading fake news and stirring caste-based riots and spreading provocative posts."
According to reports, a 10-member panel is being constituted to investigate the events surrounding the student's death. Prof. Suryanarayana Doolla, who has been named in the FIR, has also reportedly been given a week's leave.
In the meantime, an alleged previous email was sent across by Prof. Suryanarayana Doolla back when he was Dean of Students Affairs.
"IIT Bombay aims to have high inclusivity within the campus and wants students to bond with each other irrespective of factors such as caste, religion, or socio-economic status.
IIT Bombay implements, and is proud to implement, the reservation policy of the Constitution in letter and in spirit," stated the mail as per student sources.
The email clarified that IIT Bombay considers it inappropriate to ask a fellow student about their birth/admission category and JEE (Advanced) ranks/GATE scores or any other information that may reveal the caste or other related aspects.
"While the person asking the question may feel it is innocent, and it may be driven purely by curiosity, asking the question can often have an adverse impact on the other student. Asking could appear like an attempt to find the caste and may set the stage for discrimination," stated the email while prohibiting any exchange of jokes of this nature, hateful remarks, harassment, or bullying on the campus and even online.
Taking to social media, a group of IIT Bombay students distanced themselves from the protests that continue to resume. "The IIT Bombay students who were part of it never demanded the resignation of Prof. Surya, Prof. Kedare, or any other professor. The people who are still protesting and pushing such demands are not IIT Bombay students," stated the post.
As per students, the demonstrations now being seen can be attributed to people associated with political organisations.
"It is also deeply misleading to use IIT Bombay students as a shield for demands that students themselves did not make. Disagreements over academic rules, including rules around examinations and academic integrity, should not be turned into a political spectacle in the name of students," the posts mentioned.
