IIT Bombay student dies by suicide after being caught using ChatGPT during exam

A 22-year-old student of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay committed suicide in his hostel room after he was allegedly caught using his mobile phone during an examination, police said on Saturday.

Sahil Ravindra Wakode, a native of Maharashtra's Yavatmal district, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his room in Hostel Number 4 on the Powai campus on Friday evening, an official said.

Wakode was a second-year BTech student in the Energy Science and Engineering department, he said.

According to a statement from IIT Bombay, the student had allegedly uploaded the examination question paper to ChatGPT to seek answers during the exam.

The death is the third reported case of suicide at the IIT Bombay campus in Powai in seven months.

In February, a second-year student died by suicide in a hostel. In July 2026, at the beginning of the new semester, a 20-year-old second-year BTech student also died by suicide.

The official said that Wakode's death came to light after his hostel mates got no response from his room and alerted the authorities, who then informed the police.

No suicide note was recovered from the spot, the official said, adding that the Powai police have registered an accidental death report (ADR) and sent the body for a post-mortem examination.

The incident also triggered protests on campus, with students demanding an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death.

The institute, in a statement issued late on Friday, said that the student was found using a mobile phone in the exam hall earlier that day.

But no disciplinary action was initiated against him, it stated.

The instructor and the Head of the Department had discussed the matter with the student and counselled him, assuring him that the incident would not adversely affect his academic career.

He subsequently returned to his hostel room and was found dead later in the evening.

"The Institute is extending support to the student's friends, classmates, faculty members, and others affected by this tragic incident," the statement said.

The circumstances surrounding the death are being probed, it added.