Students at IIT Bombay began a hunger strike at the institute’s Justice Corner on Friday, intensifying a 15-day protest over the September 18 death of a second-year B.Tech student. The protesting students are demanding an independent and transparent investigation, accountability from the institute administration and action on a series of concerns they have raised following the student’s death.

The student was found dead in his hostel room on September 18 after allegedly being caught cheating during a mid-semester examination. Following the incident, students marched towards the institute’s main gate and raised several demands, including the resignation of IIT Bombay director Shireesh Kedare and professor Suryanarayana Doolla. The students said the director did not meet them at the main gate to hear their concerns.

The protesters continued their agitation through the night and held discussions on issues affecting student life on campus. They subsequently presented the administration with an 18-point charter of demands. These include an independent investigation into the student’s death, changes to the inquiry committee appointed by the institute, the resignation of Kedare and the suspension of Doolla, who has been accused of caste-based discrimination by the deceased student’s parents. The students have also called for greater accountability from the institute.

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The students said they believe meaningful change can begin only when the institute accepts responsibility for what they describe as its failures. They alleged that although the director made promises during their initial meetings, the administration has not formally responded to their demands. During the protests, students from different batches, departments and programmes also discussed mental health, student-teacher relationships, placement pressure, evaluation systems and how students deal with loss on campus.

The deceased student’s parents have also been continuing their hunger strike at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan and have demanded the arrest of Kedare and Doolla. Their advocate, Nikhil Kamble, said the parents would continue the protest at Azad Maidan after obtaining police permission. Their weekend protest had earlier faced a permission issue, according to the report. Meanwhile, more than 20 Ambedkarite organisations from India and abroad, including the Ambedkar Association of North America, have criticised the handling of the student’s death and called for an independent investigation.

The organisations also urged IIT Bombay to apologise to the student’s parents and the SC/ST community over its initial statement following the death, which they said contained unverified allegations. They demanded that the institute withdraw its statement concerning the student’s conduct during the examination and called for an inquiry involving independent members, including SC/ST students, faculty members and external experts. On Thursday, Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking urgent government intervention and a fast-track investigation into the student’s death.

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