Months after the Mumbai Police arrested a classmate of IIT-Bombay student Darshan Solanki for allegedly abetting his suicide based on a note, Mr. Solanki’s family members on Thursday held a press conference in Mumbai saying they had lost confidence in the investigation.
The family, led by the 18-year-old’s father, Rameshbhai Solanki, alleged that the Special Investigation Team probe was sidelining instances of caste discrimination faced by Mr. Solanki and was instead pinning the blame on one other student in a separate matter.
Weeks after the death of Mr. Solanki on February 12 inside the IIT-B campus, the Mumbai Police had said they had recovered a purported suicide note, which allegedly blamed a classmate of his - Arman Iqbal Khatri - for his death. Based on this note, the police arrested Mr. Khatri on April 9.
The police alleged that they had transcripts of conversations between Mr. Khatri and Mr. Solanki, where the former had allegedly threatened to kill the latter with a paper cutter over comments about Mr. Khatri being Muslim. The police had also noted that Mr. Solanki had apologised repeatedly for his remarks about Mr. Khatri’s religion.
However, within a month, a court in Mumbai granted Mr. Khatri bail in the case, noting that there was no material to suggest that he had discriminated against Mr. Solanki on grounds of caste. It also noted that the purported suicide note blaming Mr. Khatri did not have any other material showing that he had instigated the suicide.
On Thursday, Mr. Solanki’s family said it was “extremely concerning” as to how the probe was proceeding by sidelining instances of caste-based discrimination and how the family was being kept in the dark about the investigation.
“The investigation ostensibly being conducted by the SIT and the Police authorities does not inspire confidence and is only trying to cover up the caste-based discrimination that Darshan had faced in IIT Bombay,” the family said in a statement.
The family added that Mr. Solanki’s sister, his aunt, and a senior of his at IIT-Bombay had all submitted to the police that Mr. Solanki was being harassed for his caste identity within IIT-B.
Further, they said that the police’s claims of the purported note being written by Mr. Solanki was also doubtful. They said when they were shown the note scribbled on the back of a question paper, both Rameshbhai and his daughter had disputed that the handwriting was Mr. Solanki’s.
The Mumbai Police, however, said that action was taken on the note only after examination by forensic experts..
Despite the “overwhelming evidence pointing to caste discrimination”, the family said it was “appalling” that the police were sidelining this aspect. The family’s statement said that they had written to the Chief Minister, Home Minister, Police Commissioner and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) about their concerns. The family has demanded “immediate intervention in this matter to ensure that crucial evidence is not lost/ignored and so that our family gets justice”.
Soon after the death of Mr. Solanki, dozens of Dalit, Adivasi and Bahujan students at IITs across the country had come out with allegations of widespread caste discrimination on campuses. This was supported by two surveys conducted by the IIT-Bombay’s SC/ST Cell, which showed the same, as reported by The Hindu.
While these revelations had reignited negotiations in the IIT-B campus about strengthening safeguards for SC/ST/OBC students on campus, Ambedkarite student bodies in the institute have said that the administration is yet to hold detailed discussions with them about the way ahead as promised in the wake of Mr. Solanki’s death. One student said that the Director had promised SC/ST pupils after the death that an Open House on systemic caste discrimination will be held. “But we have no news of that yet,” the student said.
