A major political and social controversy has erupted following the tragic death of a second-year undergraduate student at IIT Bombay. The young scholar, enrolled in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, allegedly took his own life on the evening of September 18. In the wake of the incident, the student's father leveled severe allegations against exam invigilator and faculty member Professor Suryanarayana Doolla, accusing him of relentless mental harassment and casteist slurs over the preceding three months. Following a formal complaint from the family, an FIR was registered against the faculty member, and the case was subsequently handed over to the Mumbai Crime Branch for a comprehensive probe.
Congress Leader's Remarks Ignite Public Backlash
The situation escalated significantly after Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed publicly weighed in on the tragedy. Defending the accused professor, she openly questioned the resilience of modern students by remarking that individuals from her generation were far tougher mentally. The stance drew sharp criticism from student associations and social activists, who described the remarks as irresponsible and tone-deaf toward institutional pressures.
Examination Hall Episode and Family Allegations
Details emerging from the inquiry indicate that the student was allegedly caught with a mobile phone during a mid-semester examination on Friday. According to institutional statements, the student was found in possession of the device inside the testing venue, where he had purportedly uploaded the question paper to ChatGPT to generate answers. The administration maintained that no formal disciplinary proceedings had been launched against him prior to the tragedy.
However, the deceased scholar's father firmly disputed this account, asserting that the phone incident was merely being used as a pretext. He insisted that Professor Suryanarayana Doolla had been systematically targeting the student for months, subjecting him to caste-based insults. Considering the gravity of the accusations and the heightened sensitivity surrounding campus discrimination, the Mumbai Police formally transferred the investigation files to the Crime Branch.
Faculty Defense and Mental Health Demands
Explaining her perspective on the controversy, Shama Mohamed stated that she stood with the professor in the matter. She maintained that reprimanding a student caught cheating and asking them to exit the testing room constitutes ordinary academic procedure. She further suggested that if the student felt targeted on the basis of his caste, a formal complaint should have been lodged with the campus SC/ST cell.
Reflecting on parenting and schooling norms, Mohamed observed that previous generations were regularly scolded by guardians and instructors for wrongdoing without suffering breakdowns because they possessed greater mental fortitude. Alongside her defense of the educator, she called upon academic institutions to prioritize student wellbeing by deploying professional mental health therapists on campuses.
Concerns Over Institutional Accountability
While the bereaved family remains devastated by the sudden loss at one of the nation's premier engineering hubs, the political defense of an accused academic has shifted the spotlight onto broader institutional culture. Observers across social media are questioning whether appeals to personal mental toughness can be used to deflect from serious allegations of harassment and caste discrimination in higher education. Detectives from the Mumbai Crime Branch are actively questioning enrolled students and the professor to ascertain the full sequence of events.
