IIT Bombay student death: CCTV shows Sahil Wakode handing suspected phone to invigilator

Mumbai: CCTV footage from the examination hall where Sahil Wakode, a second-year student in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering at IIT Bombay, appeared for his examination surfaced on Wednesday.

According to sources, investigators are examining CCTV footage from both the examination hall and the hostel to piece together the sequence of events leading up to Wakode's death.

Also Read: IIT Bombay sets up 10-member panel to probe student's alleged suicide


The examination on Friday was scheduled to conclude at 1 pm. Footage recorded between 12:30 pm and 12:45 pm shows Wakode, wearing a black T-shirt, speaking with the invigilator. During the interaction, he is seen bending slightly and looking at something in his pocket. He then appears to remove an object, believed to be a mobile phone, from his pocket and hand it to the invigilator. The professor is subsequently seen taking Wakode away from the other students.

A second CCTV recording, captured around 1:25 pm, shows Wakode entering his hostel room. According to an official, he is not seen leaving the room thereafter.

Wakode was found dead in his hostel room on Friday, hours after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone during the examination. His family, however, has lodged a complaint alleging that he was subjected to caste-based harassment and mental torture by a faculty member, which they claim drove him to take his own life.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Yogesh Kadam told the media that the preliminary investigation had not indicated that the case involved caste discrimination.

Also Read: IIT Bombay Prof Doolla sent on leave for impartial probe into student's death

"The preliminary findings so far have not found anything related to caste discrimination. We have told the police officers to investigate this issue as well because, once the allegation is raised, it must be investigated. It is our responsibility to get to the bottom of the matter. We are investigating the professor's role, and if we find that he was involved in the alleged conduct, he will be booked under the relevant sections," Kadam said.

"We need to find out the root cause of why the student died by suicide. If caste discrimination was not the reason, then what was the reason? The investigation is ongoing, and we do not want to rule anything out yet," he added.

Sources said the probe team had sought the institute's manual outlining the procedure to be followed when a student is caught cheating. "This is to help ascertain whether Professor Suryanarayana Doolla followed the prescribed procedure," an official said.