Sahil Wakode suicide case: Youth Congress demands action on professors, Rahul Gandhi calls parents

The Youth Congress has taken an aggressive stance over the suicide of Sahil Wakode, a student at IIT Bombay. The party alleged that professors at the institute harassed Sahil over his caste and mentally, forcing him to take this extreme step. The party also said baseless allegations were levelled against Sahil, which left him deeply distressed.

At a press conference held at Gandhi Bhavan, Youth Congress national president Uday Bhanu Chib directly pointed a finger at Professor Satyanarayan Dulla. Alleging that this professor was responsible for Sahil's suicide, he demanded Dulla's immediate arrest and a fair investigation into the entire matter. Chib said Professor Kedare's role in the case was also significant and demanded his arrest as well. He said a fair investigation would not be possible until both professors were arrested, questioning how the institute could conduct a fair inquiry into its own incident.

Chib said students had died by suicide at the institute even before Sahil. He claimed three students had died by suicide in the past seven months. He also demanded that Sahil's laptop, mobile phone and other gadgets, currently with the Crime Branch, be handed over to his parents along with the data on them immediately. Uday Bhanu made it clear that the Youth Congress's fight would not stop until Sahil got justice.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, spoke to Sahil's parents over the phone to console them. Chib said Gandhi assured them that the Congress party would continue to fight for Sahil until he got justice.

Mumbai Youth Congress president Zeenat Shabrin said Sahil was a very bright student and the allegation of copying against him was baseless, since a student who sat on the first bench could not have copied. She said the institute made the allegation without any inquiry and later withdrew it and apologised. Shabrin alleged that many students at IIT Powai were complaining of caste-based harassment, but they were now being silenced, threatened with ruined careers, pressured, and even barred from leaving the campus. Maharashtra Youth Congress president Shivraj More was also present at the press conference. Following this, a Youth Congress delegation led by Uday Bhanu Chib met Mumbai's Joint Commissioner of Police Manojkumar Sharma and demanded immediate action against those responsible.