Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday met the parents of IIT Bombay students Sahil Wakode and Aniket Ambore, who committed suicide, and assured them of his support.
While Sahil, a backward-class student, died in September 2026, Aniket fell to his death from the sixth floor of his hostel in IIT Bombay in September 2014.
The parents of the two students also met Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge. Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad, who accompanied the parents, later told reporters that they narrated the entire incident to Gandhi. She said the discussion continued for 1.5 hours and Gandhi told the family that he stood with them and offered help from the Congress and himself.
She claimed that Sahil’s death was an “institutional murder”, alleging that there was a casteist atmosphere on the IIT campus in Mumbai.
“A presentation was given to him over IIT. In the last 13 months, four students died by suicide and this is a big issue.
So far, 14 IIT Bombay students have died after committing suicide.
In a post on X, Gaekwad later said, “Both of them took detailed information about this matter and assured that the Congress party stands firmly behind them, and will work to deliver justice to this family. “Gaekwad alleged that the guilty are being protected.” In this case, a crime has been registered under the SC/ST Act, but efforts are being made to protect the concerned professors.
“In this institution, IIT Bombay, backward class students are being subjected to injustice and mental harassment. Casteism is rampant in this institution; it must be stopped, and concrete measures must be taken to ensure that no one else becomes another Sahil Wakode in the future,” she said in her post.