Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi has raised concerns over the handling of the protests following the death of an IIT-Bombay student, questioning whether action against professors can address the deeper issues surrounding campus environment and student mental health. In a post on X, Chaturvedi said the student's death was "extremely unfortunate" and another reminder that premier institutions need to do more to improve the campus environment and address mental-health concerns. However, she questioned the move to remove or target professors as a way of bringing the protests to an end, calling it a "band-aid solution" to a problem that requires more fundamental intervention. Chaturvedi also objected to the focus on professors who were reportedly performing their duties by reporting the alleged cheating during examinations. "Also, shifting the blame on the professors who were doing their job of reporting copying during an exam and making it about caste discrimination is a sad outcome," she said. IIT Bombay on Monday suspended the deanship of Professor Suryanarayana Doolla with immediate effect and issued a formal apology, retracting its earlier characterisations of the incident. The decision on suspension was taken by IIT Bombay Director Shireesh B. Kedare. The insititute also clarified that Kedare had not resigned as director as had been claimed in certain reports. In an official communication IIT Bombay also walked back its previous claims regarding the circumstances leading up to the tragedy, acknowledging that premature assertions had inappropriately framed the events before any due investigative process was carried out. “We apologise for the statements contained in our earlier communication concerning the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate demise of Sahil,” the institute stated. "The details and circumstances leading up to the incident remain subject to investigation by the appropriate authorities. In view of the ongoing investigation, it was inappropriate to have set out or characterised details relating to the events preceding his demise before they had been duly established through the appropriate investigative process," it added. Sahil Wakode, a student from the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, died by suicide on Friday. In an earlier statement issued on September 19, IIT Bombay had alleged that the student was caught cheating in an examination. Ananya is a journalist with a strong grounding in breaking news and a deep-rooted passion for geopolitics. She has 6 years of experience in TV and Dig... View More