Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 21 (ANI): Amid an ongoing row over the death of a second-year student by alleged suicide, the IIT Bombay Faculty Forum has expressed solidarity with exam invigilator Professor Suryanarayana Doolla, stating he was following institutional protocol after discovering that the student was in “unauthorised possession and use of a smartphone.”
“We strongly express our solidarity with our colleague Prof Suryanarayana Doolla, who was discharging his duties in line with the institute’s Senate-approved academic policies currently in force,” the forum said in the statement, while offering deepest condolences to the family of the student.
IIT Bombay earlier said the student, from the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, was found using a mobile phone in the exam hall and had uploaded the question paper on ChatGPT to seek answers. No disciplinary action was initiated against him, the institute said in a statement.
The forum said Prof Doolla, the course instructor, was invigilating the mid-semester examination from 11 am to 1 pm on September 18, when he saw a student using a smartphone without authorisation, which it termed “academic malpractice.”
The forum said, “As part of the institute-approved procedure, he reported the incident to institute authorities for further action in the matter. The Faculty Forum of IIT Bombay is absolutely distressed with the tarnishing of the reputation of our colleague Prof. Suryanarayana Doolla, who was merely discharging his academic duties, and following the institute-approved procedures.”
The institute had earlier said that the instructor and the Head of the Department counselled the student and assured him the incident would not adversely affect his academic career. “The student subsequently returned to his hostel room. Later in the evening, he was found dead in his room. He then returned to his hostel room, where he was found dead in the evening,” the institute said.
“IIT Bombay is deeply saddened by the loss of a student. The Institute is extending support to the student’s friends, classmates, faculty members, and others affected by this tragic incident,” it said, adding that the circumstances are being looked into by the appropriate authorities.
Following the incident, students held a late-night protest, demanding accountability and transparency from the administration. The parents of the deceased had filed a case under the SC/ST Act, alleging discrimination, which they said led him to take his own life (ANI)
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