Darshan Solanki, the Dalit student who died by suicide at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay in February had told his mother about caste discrimination in the premium educational institute, says a chargesheet filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Mumbai Police.
In a chargesheet filed before a special court on Tuesday, the police said that Solanki told his mother that the behaviour of his fellow students changed after they came to know about his caste, reports PTI news agency.
Darshan Solanki had also told his family that some students taunted him saying that he was receiving free education.
The 18-year-old was a first-year student in the Bachelor in Technology (Chemical) course at IIT Bombay. Solanki was found dead near his hostel building on February 12.
In the chargesheet, the police investigation concluded that Solanki’s poor academic record and a threat from his batchmate Arman Khatri were the reasons behind the suicide.
The chargesheet also contains an Instagram chat that Solanki had with a Youtuber running a channel on spirituality days before his suicide, claiming that Solanki had expressed concern over his poor marks and lack of interest in studies, reports Indian Express.
This police claims are in contrast to the complaint made by Darshan Solanki’s parents who alleged that their son faced caste discrimination at the IIT campus that pushed him to die by suicide.
While Solanki’s family have maintained their claim of caste discrimination at the institute, an inquiry committee set up by IIT-Bombay had dismissed it as the possible reason behind Solanki’s suicide and hinted at “deteriorating academic performance” as the probable cause.
