According to the family, an 18-year-old Dalit student at IIT Bombay who is believed to have committed suicide had spoken to his sister and aunt about being shunned by his peers because of his caste. IIT Bombay officials asserted there was no discrimination on campus, but Darshan Solanki’s family insisted he was victimised.
He informed my parents and me when he visited last month that caste prejudice exists there. When his friends learned that he is a member of a scheduled caste, their attitudes towards him changed. His sister Jhanvi Solanki claimed that they stopped communicating with him and spending time with him.
He was suffering and being tortured. He did this because of that, according to his mother Tarlikaben Solanki.
Divyaben, Darshan’s aunt, said, “He came here a month ago and said that many students don’t like that I am studying for free. People ask “why are you studying for free while we are spending a lot of money,” out of jealousy. He said to me, “Many students are envious of me. He also stopped communicating with some friends.
Darshan’s father, Rameshbhai Solanki, claimed to have spoken to his son just hours before he passed away.
“We received a call from IIT two hours prior to his suicide. He asked, “How are you?” in a normal tone. He called to wish the birthday of the daughter of my older brother. He promised to leave today. I transferred some cash to his account. I have money; I don’t need money, he declared. Even though he wasn’t spending much, I still sent him some cash. I had no notion that this sort of thing could occur.
Darshan Solanki’s death is being investigated, according to IIT Bombay, which denied claims that he was subject to systemic prejudice.
IIT Bombay issued a statement on Tuesday denying assertions made in several news publications regarding the unfortunate death of a first-year BTech student that said prejudice was to blame and that it amounted to “institutional murder”.
After Darshan passed away on Sunday, it is believed that he jumped from the seventh floor of the hostel building. The police have opened an accident death investigation. Although they haven’t yet discovered a suicide note, a student organisation claims that discrimination against Dalit students on campus caused him to commit suicide.
