IIT student’s suicide: Darshan told family members about caste discrimination, says chargesheet

In one of the conversations between Darshan and his sister, Jhanvi, he said that despite facing such hurdles, he would focus and complete his education at the institute, the chargesheet said.

The SIT has booked fellow student Arman Khatri under sections including abetment of suicide, criminal intimidation and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act). The statements part of the chargesheet do not specifically mention who had made the discriminatory comments.

Darshan’s family members had sought for a probe into this while the SIT and initially the Powai police were investigating the case. The SIT arrested Khatri on the basis of a note found in Darshan’s room, which said, “Arman has killed me”.

The chargesheet has statements of Darshan’s mother, father Ramesh, sister, grandfather and an aunt. Darshan’s sister said in her statement that she used to receive calls from him regularly since he joined the IIT during which he told her in December that after his friends and fellow students found out that he belongs to a Scheduled Caste, their behaviour towards him changed.

She also stated that other students from the community told him not to mention his caste anywhere or he would face ragging and mental stress like they did. He told his sister that the environment at the institute was “not good” and there was “caste-based discrimination”.

His sister also said that when Darshan came home in January during Makar Sankranti holiday, he told her about students discussing that members of the Scheduled Caste “should not get education for free”. The statement, however, does not name any student.

Darshan Solanki, originally from Ahmedabad, allegedly jumped off the eighth floor of his hostel building on the IIT Bombay campus in Powai on February 12. (Express Photo)

His grandfather said in his statement that while Darshan usually said that his studies were going well, in January while returning to the campus, he did not look happy. Darshan’s sister had also referred to a chat where he was guiding an aspirant who approached him for the competitive entrance exams via Instagram. Darshan told the aspirant in the chat that he should not think that those belonging to the reserved category get benefits and must focus on his studies instead. Darshan had also told his sister about his roommate who cut down on interactions with him.

The roommate, however, in his statement said that he would often hang out with Darshan, saying they celebrated his birthday together in November. He also said that he had insisted that Darshan join him for the New Year Eve celebration on the campus and had also planned a Mumbai visit with him and others which was to commence on the day of the incident on February 12.

The roommate also said that on the day of the incident, they had breakfast together and Darshan had even complimented him on his look while stepping out of the room at noon. Darshan was seen around 1 pm near the refuge floor wall of the hostel, from where he allegedly jumped. The roommate said that Darshan had got a fail repeat in a couple of subjects in the mid-semester exam and had lost interest in attending classes. The roommate said in his statement that he would insist that he attend classes, while another witness said that the roommate would help him and take him out frequently as he did not mingle easily.

One witness told the police that in January, Darshan had told him that he was not able to study and may go back home and take admission in a private college.

His family members said that he had called them at 12.20 pm on February 12, when they were attending a wedding. Darshan had spoken to his cousin and other relatives and even discussed inviting all relatives home when he would return on February 14.