IIT Bombay alumni send letter to Director after student suicide

Alumni Letter and Demands for Reform

The death cannot be viewed in isolation, alumni of IIT-Bombay stated in a letter sent to the institute’s director on September 27, 2026. The three-page letter signed by past students expressed deep anguish over a series of student deaths at the institute, noting that four student suicides had occurred at IIT Bombay in the preceding year alone. The alumni put forward 10 demands, including an immediate and impartial investigation into allegations of caste-based harassment, improved mental health support featuring diverse counselors, and mandatory faculty sensitization programs.

“We sincerely hope that the institute will take concrete steps to ensure that the academic climate at IITB is egalitarian, humane and conducive to intellectual growth,” the alumni wrote in the letter accessed by The Hindu. The past students cited broader concerns across India’s premier institutes, pointing to media reports indicating 45 student suicides across 23 IITs over the past five years, with disproportionate representation among Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and female students.

Campus Climate and Security Measures

The alumni letter raised strong objections to what it termed an increasingly “militarized campus” environment during examination periods. Past students criticized the deployment of police and security forces, as well as the practice of frisking students using private security personnel before they entered exam halls. They stated that such measures fundamentally altered the character of an academic institution and were absent during their own time at the institute.

To address student alienation and performance pressures, the alumni demanded a comprehensive survey of student mental health that accounts for gender, caste, religious, and linguistic diversity. They also urged the institute to adequately staff its medical unit with diverse counselors and therapists—specifically from LGBTQ+, SC, ST, and OBC communities—to create safe spaces for marginalized students.

Disciplinary Procedures and Communication Controversy

Public scrutiny has also focused on the procedural steps leading up to Wakode’s death following an allegation of academic malpractice. IIT Bombay maintains a published procedure for academic infractions designed to separate detection from adjudication. The rules require an invigilator to confiscate relevant materials, issue a fresh answer book, and file a detailed report for the Departmental Academic Disciplinary Action Committee (D-ADAC), rather than allowing an invigilator’s on-the-spot judgment to determine a student’s penalty.

Reports noted that Prof. Doolla approached Wakode, took his examination and answer papers, and escorted him out of the hall, raising questions regarding whether standard institutional procedures were followed. Compounding the controversy, IIT Bombay issued an initial public statement alleging Wakode had uploaded a question paper to ChatGPT, only to retract and apologize on September 21, 2026, acknowledging it was inappropriate to characterize the circumstances prematurely before investigative processes concluded.

Amid ongoing protests, the alumni demanded that protesting students not be criminalized and that the administration address genuine grievances through a transparent, democratic process. The institute has suspended the Dean of Academic Affairs pending the outcome of the ongoing investigations.