Darshan Solanki Death: Family allege harassment during lodging FIR, SIT enquiry

NEW DELHI: Family of the 18-year-old student Darshan Solanki who died by suicide at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay allege harassment during lodging the FIR and SIT enquiry. In a statement issued by Darshan’s father said that while going to the Powai Police Station to register the FIR, the DCP present there was non-cooperative and refused to entertain request for registration of FIR and asked to approach the SIT for registration of FIR.

Saying that the SIT members only allowed family members to enter the office and initially denied entry to the lawyer, Darshan’s father said: “Inspite of making repeated requests for registration of the FlR, Upadhyaya [DCP] refused to do the same stating that they are investigating the ADR and refused even to acknowledge my letter. Instead he kept lecturing us for several hours and also tried to convince us not to pursue registration of the FIR.”

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In the statement by Solanki’s father, the SIT said they had retrieved the paper from Darshan's room and his family members were asked to identify if it was Darshan's handwriting.

“The SIT then proceeded to record our respective statements and took our signatures on the statements typed in Marathi, copies of which have not been provided to us,” he added.

However on March 27, when Darshan’s family following up with SIT reached the office along with the lawyer, were made to wait long hours.

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And at first the SIT insisted that the mother register the FIR instead of the father, even though the the complaint was addressed by the father. The ACP present there approached the family after long hours of waiting with a pre-typed copy of the contents of the FIR, without inputs or speaking to the family.

When the FIR was read to us, Darshan’s father said, it consisted of complaints or statements that were not mentioned by them and were purportedly part of the investigation so far conducted by the SIT.

Darshan’s father further added: “We are completely shocked and disheartened with the attitude of the police and the members of the SIT who have been refusing to lodge the FIR for almost two weeks and are now forcing us to write their version.”

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“Their demeanor does not inspire any confidence in us and is suspect to say the least. We are apprehensive that the SIT is attempting to sideline and divert the investigation from the angle of caste discrimination faced by Darshan, which has been reported by multiple persons and is part of my complaint,” he said requesting to take stock of the matter and ensure that the FIR is registered on the basis of the complaint and that investigation is carried out on the same independently and fairly without any foul play.