Reported by Mumbai Mirror
A month after IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode died on September 18, police detained 22 students protesting on campus on Sunday, with demonstrators alleging physical assault during the crackdown. More than 100 Mumbai Police personnel, along with IIT security, MSF personnel, private security staff and people in plain clothes, allegedly forcefully removed the protesters and took them away in two buses. All were subsequently released.
Students alleged that the second round of detentions involved kicking, choking and hair-pulling. Sahil’s parents, Ravindra and Sonali Wakode, who were also detained, had arrived on campus to seek accountability from the institute’s administration. His father submitted a letter to the Registrar. Police also dismantled the month-old protest site, named “Justice Corner”, near the institute’s main gate.
According to a protesting student, the first round of detentions took place around 2 am, when police vans arrived on campus. Eight students were detained and taken to Powai Police Station, the student alleged.
When we saw so many police on campus, we asked why they were there. We started recording them, and they began detaining us,” the student said.
