IIT Bombay suicide: Batchmate arrested for abetment granted bail

A special court here on Saturday granted bail to Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay student Arman Khatri, arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of fellow student Darshan Solanki.

According to his lawyer Dinesh Gupta, Khatri has been ordered by the court to pay a bail amount of Rs 25,000 in cash.

Solanki, a first-year B Tech (Chemical) student from Ahmedabad, reportedly jumped off the seventh floor of an IITB hostel building in suburban Powai on February 12. The incident occurred one day after the semester exams had concluded and resulted in Solanki's death.

After a lapse of three weeks, an SIT from the Mumbai police discovered a brief note from Solanki's room that read "Arman has killed me."

The city crime branch's special investigation team arrested Khatri on April 9 and charged him under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including abetment to suicide and criminal intimidation, as well as the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

According to the police, two days before his death, Solanki had allegedly made a communal remark in a conversation with Khatri following which the latter threatened Solanki with a paper cutter. Solanki was visibly scared by this incident and had suffered from a fever that night, police claimed.

As per police, Solanki had sent WhatsApp messages to Khatri apologising for the remark and saying that he was going back home and leaving Mumbai.

In his bail plea, Khatri has claimed that he is being unfairly targeted and framed in the case. He stated that there is no evidence to suggest that he directly abetted Solanki's suicide. Furthermore, the plea pointed out that Solanki's parents had not accused Khatri of any wrongdoing in their initial complaint to the police.

As a young student with no prior criminal record, Khatri's future prospects would be adversely affected by his continued incarceration, the plea added.