Mumbai Police detain parents of IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode, dismantle month-long protest site

Mumbai Police detained Sahil Wakode’s parents and protesters demanding justice for his death, amid allegations of manhandling women, and dismantled the month-long protest site at IIT Bombay.

A month after IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode died by suicide, Mumbai Police on Sunday detained his parents, students and activists who had gathered at the institute to demand justice for what they described as an “institutional murder”.

People inside the campus were detained separately and held within the IIT Bombay premises. Others were detained outside the institute’s gate and taken to Azad Maidan police station.

Students had been protesting inside the campus for the past month, while Sahil’s parents had been protesting at Azad Maidan because they were not allowed inside the institute. On Sunday, the parents, students and activists had gathered at IIT Bombay.

Protesters accused police officers of brutally manhandling them. They alleged that police manhandled women protesters inside the campus and that their clothes were torn during the incident.