Student groups say police detained 22 IIT Bombay protesters

Student bodies said police detained 22 IIT Bombay students during a campus protest over Sahil Wakode’s death, while student groups alleged officers used physical force against protesters. Reports also say police detained Wakode’s parents.

The accounts describe a protest that had continued for around a month near the campus gates in Powai, with demonstrators demanding accountability over his death. According to student bodies cited by The Daily Pioneer, eight of the 22 students were detained twice that day.

The Logical Indian separately reported that around 10 students were detained earlier, and said police detained Wakode’s parents alongside protesters. The Hindu and Maktoob’s headlines also report the parents’ detention. The accounts do not establish whether the reported group of around 10 was part of the 22 counted by student bodies.

The Daily Pioneer reports student groups’ allegations that officers kicked and choked protesters, tore their clothes and physically assaulted female students. It also says student representatives reported that officers initially detained several protesters, briefly released them, and that students later gathered again with Wakode’s parents.

The reports do not include a detailed police account of the alleged force. The Daily Pioneer says police and IIT Bombay had not issued detailed responses to those allegations. The protest followed Wakode’s death.

The Daily Pioneer describes him as 22, while The Logical Indian describes him as 20; both identify him as a second-year BTech student and place his death on September 18. The Daily Pioneer says he was found dead in his hostel room and describes the death as an alleged suicide; The Logical Indian reports that he died by suicide.

These accounts differ in age and in how they characterize the death. Students have protested near IIT Bombay’s gates for around a month, according to The Daily Pioneer and The Logical Indian. The Daily Pioneer says the campaign included a 15-day hunger strike.

Its account says protesters raised allegations of caste discrimination and institutional apathy; The Logical Indian says Wakode’s family alleged caste-based discrimination and harassment. These are allegations made by protesters and family members, not findings established in the reports.

The headlines from The Hindu and Maktoob describe police clearing or dismantling the protest site, respectively. Those descriptions indicate the protest site was removed, but the accounts differ in their wording and the headlines do not provide further details about how that occurred.

Lokmat Times’ headline reports nine student detentions as Wakode’s parents visited campus, while The Daily Pioneer gives the larger figure of 22 students detained, including eight allegedly detained twice. The immediate consequences reported are the detention of students and Wakode’s parents, the alleged use of force, and the clearing or dismantling of the protest site.

The reporting does not establish the legal status of those detained or describe any detailed police or IIT Bombay explanation for the operation. The dispute remains centered on protesters’ and the family’s calls for accountability and their allegations concerning discrimination and institutional handling of Wakode’s death.