- Parents of deceased student protested on campus, then detained.
- Police detained parents and lawyer after Congress MP left.
- Police demolished protest site, forcibly taking away students.
A month after IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode died by suicide, his parents were detained by Mumbai Police on Sunday while sitting at a protest site on the campus alongside students. The police also demolished the site near the institute’s main gate, where students had been protesting for the past month.
Sahil’s parents, Ravindra and Sonali Wakode, had arrived on campus to pay homage to their son, who died on September 18. His father also submitted a letter to the institute’s Registrar.
According to the family’s lawyer, Siddhartha Ingale, the police detained the couple shortly after Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad left the site following a meeting with them. Ingale said he was also detained along with the parents.
Parents Detained After Congress MP’s Visit
“The parents were only sitting at the protest site, where the father had submitted a letter to the Registrar. Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad was present to meet them. But soon after she left, the police detained the parents along with me and the protesting students,” Ingale said.
He said the police were taking them to Azad Maidan police station.
Earlier, around 10 students had been detained at the protest site before Sahil’s parents arrived. They were released shortly afterwards and returned to join the demonstration in support of the family.
Protest Site Demolished, Students Taken Away
Ingale said the police later asked Ravindra Wakode to leave the protest site. Wakode refused to leave until the detained student activists were released, following which he and his wife were detained, the lawyer said.
Around 16 students present at the site were also allegedly forcibly taken away in a police bus as the police cleared and demolished the protest site.
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