Overwhelming evidence of Darshan Solanki facing caste discrimination at IIT-Bombay, claims family

The family of Darshan Solanki, IIT Bombay student who committed suicide, on Thursday expressed anguish and concern about the continuous sidelining of the incidences of caste discrimination during the investigations.

Solanki, a first-year B.Tech (Chemical) student at IIT Bombay was allegedly facing “severe caste discrimination” at the Institute and committed suicide on February 12, 2023.

Addressing a press conference at the Mumbai Press Club, the father of Solanki, Ramesh Bhai Solanki, also flanked by his daughter and Darshan’s sister Janvi Solanki and Former Member of Parliament Dr Bhalchandra Mungekar, said that upon Solanki’s death, Powai police registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) instead of an FIR inspite of “evidence of caste discrimination” and started investigation.

However, after mounting pressure and demands of the constitution of a Special Investigation Team to investigate the matter, the Maharashtra Government formed a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) consisting of Lakhmi Gautam, Joint CP (Crime), Mumbai; Upadhyaya, DCP; Bhosale, ACP, to investigate the case.

Janvi said that in the second week of April she stumbled upon Darshan’s social media accounts while trying to log into social media. She came across Darshan’s chat with an account of “Sam Rajput” on Instagram. On February 7, 2023, just a few days before Darshan’s demise, Sam Rajput asked Darshan for his IIT-JEE rank. Darshan told him his JEE rank. Further, Darshan went on to say in the chat that since Sam now knows Darshan’s category, he will probably ‘also’ not like Darshan anymore. Darshan also added that Sam mustn’t think that reserved category students get undue advantage. The family is concerned about Darshan’s apprehension about another person ‘also’ not liking him.

“It is telling of the fact that in Darshan’s experience in IIT-Bombay, people stopped liking him after they learned that he was a reserved category student. It is yet another evidence of caste discrimination he faced in a line of so many that have already been revealed, showing that he was isolated, taunted and ostracized due to his caste,” Dr Mungekar said.

He said that this new evidence adds to many already submitted testimonies regarding the caste discrimination that Darshan faced in IIT-Bombay. These testimonies include the statements given by Uday Singh Meena, a student at IIT-B, and the family members, including Darshan’s sister, Janvi Solanki, and his aunt, Divyaben Solanki. In their statements, they all emphasized that Darshan was being harassed because of his caste. He even wanted to change his room because of the harassment he faced from his roommate. His peers mocked him for his questions about the know-how of computer, electronic gadgets and other subject matters, he said.

“On knowing Darshan’s caste, they ostracized him, reduced their interaction with him, and humiliated him for belonging to the SC category. Darshan had confided to his sister Janvi that when his peers learned that he is from the SC community, they would call him out and say… ‘dalit aaya..dalit aaya’ (look, the Dalit is here) when he would try to join them during group studies or meal hours. His classmate from the SC category has mentioned to the IIT-Bombay internal committee that Darshan was sensitive about his caste and often thought about what others would think about a reserved category student studying in an institute like IIT Bombay,” the family said in a press release after addressing the press conference.

What is “highly suspicious” is the way SIT is trying to ignore all the testimonies that point to the fact that “Darshan was facing caste discrimination” from his roommate, classmates and other people in the institute and was deeply affected by it, which is revealed from the testimonies and evidence, it further said.

“The SIT which is investigating the crime of abetment to suicide and caste atrocity, is not even looking at the angle of caste discrimination and has instead pinned the blame on one student in a separate matter. Why is the SIT not investigating into these testimonies and trying to find out who are those students and persons who discriminated and harassed Darshan for his caste? They are not trying to find out who made fun of his computer knowledge, who taunted dalit aaya dalit aaya or because of whom he wanted to change his room. Who are these students who harassed Dashan and discriminated against him based on his Dalit identity? Why have their names not come up yet in the investigation?

“It is highly appalling to see that SIT continues to sideline the caste-based discrimination incidents Darshan has faced when there is overwhelming evidence pointing out to the caste discrimination faced by Darshan and the impact it had on him. The latest media reports which suggest SIT’s ruling out of caste discrimination faced by Darshan from his classmates and roommate, in light of the handwritten note which names one student (the handwriting has been disputed by me and my daughter – Janvi), are concerning. The family believes that Darshan was killed / pushed to commit suicide because of the harassment he faced as a reserved category student, which is evident from the overwhelming evidence in that regard,” Darshan’s father said.

When the concerned police officers of Powai Police Station conducted a search in Darshan’s room, he said, they seized all electronic devices (including his mobile phone, laptop and pen drive) along with other items belonging to him. However, the family has not been provided clone copies of the seized electronic devices even after demanding it repeatedly. The family fears that more such instances that can show that he has faced caste-based discrimination will be buried under the guise of investigation.

“It is extremely concerning seeing the manner in which the investigation is being conducted sidelining the caste-based discrimination faced by Darshan and also how the family is kept in the dark about the same. 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 has written complaint letters to the Chief Minister, Home Minister, Commissioner of Police and also to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes reporting this sidelining of caste discrimination in the ongoing investigation and demanding immediate intervention in this matter to ensure that crucial evidence is not lost/ignored and so that our family gets justice.”

Courtesy : Mid day

Note: This news piece was originally published in mid-day.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights.