IIT-B student’s iPhone remains locked as Crime Branch probes final days

The investigation into Sahil Wakode’s death is examining his digital records, family’s caste-harassment allegations and whether he had approached IIT Bombay’s support systems.

The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has recorded the statements of IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode’s parents and is seeking technical assistance to access his locked iPhone as investigators piece together events leading up to his death.

The Crime Branch, which took over the investigation on September 19, is probing allegations of caste-based harassment and alleged abetment of suicide. The SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has also been invoked following allegations made by Sahil’s family.

Investigators believe the student’s phone could provide important digital evidence, including communications and other records that may help establish a timeline of events before his death.

Parents may be questioned again

The statements recorded from Sahil’s parents on Tuesday are not being treated as their final account. Investigators are expected to seek further information from the family and record additional statements as the probe progresses.

The family’s account is significant not only for information gathered after Sahil’s death, but also for determining whether he had previously spoken to his parents about difficulties he may have faced at IIT Bombay.

Sahil’s family has alleged that he was subjected to caste-based harassment. IIT Bombay, however, has said that he had not submitted a complaint to either its SC/ST Cell or the institute administration.

Locked iPhone could provide digital clues

The locked iPhone has emerged as another key element of the investigation.

According to sources, the Crime Branch is seeking technical assistance to gain access to the device. Investigators are interested in examining its contents for communications and other digital records that could help establish the sequence of events preceding Sahil’s death.

Investigators are also seeking to determine whether Sahil used ChatGPT and, if so, whether his interactions with the platform contain information relevant to the examination-related episode being investigated.

However, no such material has been accessed so far because the phone remains locked. Any conclusions about what the device may contain would therefore be premature until investigators are able to retrieve and examine the data.

SC/ST Cell and counselling records under scrutiny

The Crime Branch is also examining whether Sahil had previously sought help from institutional support systems at IIT Bombay.

Investigators are expected to write to the institute’s SC/ST Cell and Student Counseling Center to determine whether Sahil had approached either department, lodged any complaint or sought counselling.

Such records could help establish whether concerns about his experience at the institute had been documented before his death and whether he had sought institutional assistance.

The records could also provide investigators with another part of the timeline they are attempting to reconstruct. The probe is now examining several strands of the case — the examination-related incident, allegations of caste-based harassment and the support mechanisms available to Sahil at IIT Bombay.

For now, the iPhone remains inaccessible, further questioning of the family is expected and institutional records are yet to be examined.

As investigators work to bring these strands together, the circumstances surrounding the final days of Sahil Wakode’s life remain under investigation.