Mumbai, Oct 1 (INB) A former IIT Bombay student has come out in support of Professor Suryanarayana Doolla, who has been accused by the family of a student who died by suicide of subjecting him to caste-based harassment, recalling how the professor had prioritised her mental health when she was struggling to cope with academic pressure. The student, who is now an online teacher, said she does not agree with the allegations against Doolla and questioned how a professor who had stood by her during a difficult phase could harass a student on the basis of caste, according to a purported video of her circulating on social media.
Recalling her experience at IIT Bombay between 2021 and 2023, when she was pursuing her master’s degree, she said she had once approached the Dean of Student Affairs as she was unable to cope with academic pressure and was unsure whether she would be able to complete her assignments or appear in her end-semester examinations. She said Professor Suryanarayana Doolla told her that academics came later and that her mental and physical health should be her priority. “He said, ‘Why are you taking so much tension? What are you worried about? Academics? Academics comes later. First comes your mental health. Your priority is your mental health and your physical health,'” she recalled.
The professor, she said, advised her to go home and recover, offering several alternatives, including a re-examination, having her mother stay with her if she wanted to take the examination immediately, or repeating the semester if necessary. “He said, ‘We will help you. You will not face any problem in repeating the semester. Your priority right now should be your health,'” the former student recalled. She also said she had asked Doolla whether she could be allotted a single-seater room, but he declined, telling her that given her condition, she should not be left alone and should instead have someone with her.
“He said I was not in a state to be given a single room and that someone should be with me all the time because I was not well,” she said. According to the former student, Doolla also offered to speak to her head of department and professors if she was unable to discuss her academic difficulties with them herself. “His entire focus was on how I could get better. He told me to call my mother as soon as possible or go home and said he would speak to my department and professors about how I could be helped,” she said. She said the professor continued to enquire about her well-being even after she had graduated. Recalling a meeting with him during her visit to IIT Bombay last year, she said the first thing he asked was whether she was doing well and whether her health was fine. The former student said her experience was inconsistent with the allegations that Doolla had harassed a student on the basis of caste. “How can a professor who is making a student realise that academics can be managed and that their health should come first, and who is standing by that child in every possible way, harass a child?” she said. She also said she had not witnessed caste-based discrimination during her two years at IIT Bombay and had never heard of a professor making caste-based remarks against a student. “In my two years of master’s, I never heard of any professor saying anything to any student on the basis of their caste,” she said, adding that students often did not even know the caste of their classmates. She further said professors generally provide extensions and additional time to students who are unable to meet academic deadlines because of health or other difficulties. “I don’t agree with whatever is being said against sir. I am in support of sir,” she said. The former student said she found it difficult to believe that caste-based discrimination could have taken place in the institute in the manner alleged. “IIT always stands with its students,” she said, adding that she wanted to share her experience in support of the professor. The student who died by suicide was allegedly subjected to casteist slurs by the professor, according to his family. The allegations have also led to the invocation of provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the professor has been sent on leave.
