IIT Bombay To Swap Ceiling Fans With Wall-Mounted Ones After Student's Suicide

Wall-mounted fans, sources have told NDTV, will replace the ceiling fans on IIT Bombay campus after the death of a student by suicide and amid calls for "meaningful institutional reforms" and greater accountability.

Sahil Wakode, a 22-year-old second year student in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, from Maharashtra's Yavatmal district, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his hostel room on the Powai campus on Friday evening, hours after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone to access ChatGPT during a mid-semester examination.

The first batch of wall-mounted fans has reached the campus, and installation work is expected to begin soon. While this move is being described as part of a renovation project, the images are making headlines amidst the heightened sensitivity surrounding the recent suicide.

Read | 3 Suicides In 7 Months: IIT Bombay Students Call For "Action, Accountability"

Sources say that discussions regarding the replacement of ceiling fans had been ongoing for about two months, and the proposal was recently approved.

Students have confirmed the development, but the administration has remained silent, neither issuing an official statement nor denying the reports.

NCP (SP) spokesperson Anish Gavande criticised the move, saying fan replacement cannot solve the student suicide crisis.

Gavande questioned whether replacing ceiling fans with wall-mounted fans could address the larger issue of student suicides, and called for greater focus on suicide prevention and mental health support.

"Does IIT Bombay really think that replacing ceiling fans with wall fans will solve the suicide problem affecting IITs across the country?" Gavande said.

The Case

The student's alleged suicide sparked protests on the campus.

The IIT-Bombay on Monday removed Prof Suryanarayana Doolla as the dean of Administrative Affairs following protests by students and political activists over Sahil Wakode's suicide. Doolla continues to remain on the faculty.

Sahil's father Ravindra Wakode has claimed that his son was mocked, tortured and discriminated on caste lines and demanded a probe into the role of the IIT Bombay administration in his son's death.

The Mumbai Police have charged Prof Suryanarayana Doolla under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Section 108 (abetment of suicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, following a complaint lodged by Sahil's family.

(With inputs from Padmesh Pawar)