In a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the father of murdered IIT Bombay student Darshan Solanki said that the police were harassing his family as they filed a FIR into his son’s death.
The family was also “totally startled and dismayed” by the police’s and the Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) attitude, which has been “refusing” to file the FIR for over two weeks, according to the letter, which was sent on Wednesday.
The letter is also sent to Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is in charge of the home portfolio, the source added.
On February 12 of this year, Darshan Solanki, a first-year B Tech (Chemical) student from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, reportedly killed himself by leaping from the seventh storey of a dormitory building on campus.
His family alleges that he was treated unfairly at IITB because he was a member of the Scheduled Caste (SC) caste, and they assume foul play was involved in his death.
Nevertheless, the institute’s investigating committee had ruled out caste-based discrimination and had made a suggestion that declining academic performance could have been a factor in the suicide.
Darshan’s father Ramesh Solanki wrote to the police department, saying, “This is to inform you that I along with my family had travelled from Ahmedabad to visit the Powai police station for registration of a FIR on the basis of my complaint dated March 16 in the case of my son’s death. However, in spite of our requests, the Powai police station refused to register the FIR and said that since the SIT had been formed to investigate the case, they could
The father of the deceased said that the SIT did not comply when the family made the same demand on March 16.
The letter stated that the police and SIT members’ behavior “does not inspire any confidence in us and is suspect to say the least.” “We are completely shocked and disheartened by the attitude of the police and the members of the SIT who have been refusing to register the FIR for almost two weeks and are now forcing us to write their version,” it said.
We are concerned that the SIT is seeking to sidestep and distract the probe from the aspect of caste prejudice that Darshan experienced, the statement said.
Please act quickly to ensure justice for Solanki’s son, who died prematurely as a result of caste discrimination he experienced on the IIT Bombay campus, and uphold the truth. “We request you to please take stock of the matter and ensure that the FIR is registered on the basis of our complaint and the investigation is carried out independently and fairly without any foul play,” Solanki said.
An official said on Monday that the Mumbai police’s SIT, which is looking into Solanki’s death, had discovered a note that has the name of his roommate.
He stated that a piece of paper with the alleged suicide note on it had been found in Solanki’s dorm room a few days earlier.
