The family of an IIT-Bombay student who died allegedly by suicide has claimed that he faced discrimination at the premier institute for belonging to a Scheduled Caste community and that there is a strong possibility that he was “murdered’.
The Powai-based institute in Mumbai has denied allegations of bias and urged students to wait until the police and internal investigations are completed.
Darshan Solanki (18) died on Sunday after jumping from the seventh floor of an IIT Powai hostel building. He was a first-year student of the B.Tech (Chemical) programme from Ahmedabad.
His family members, who live in Ahmedabad’s Maninagar area, claimed that even though Darshan faced “discrimination for being a Dalit,” he could not have committed suicide.
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“I strongly believe that my son was murdered. Hours before his death, he had called us but he talked normally and gave no indication that he was under any tension. However, when he came home during Makar Sankranti, he informed his aunt that other students were keeping their distance from him. They were upset because Darshan made such progress,” said his mother Tarlikaben Solanki.
Darshan’s father Rameshbhai claimed that the institute as well as hospital authorities had tried to cover up the matter and performed a post-mortem even before he reached Mumbai.
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