Public LinkedIn post by an IIT alum girl:

Prof. Doolla has taught me courses twice, and I’ve had firsthand experience with him both as a professor and as a Dean.

He has taken a stand for me at a time when I least expected it, and I cannot ignore that experience.

He can be strict, and at times, his way of speaking may come across as harsh or rude. But allegations as serious as abetment and caste-based discrimination should not be made against anyone without transparent information and due process.

Based on my personal experiences with him, I stand by him unless there is credible evidence that proves otherwise.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7507471251012132866/

URGENT AND IMPORTANT: Popular social media account The Dalit Voice has demanded the death penalty for the IITB prof, plus also said legal action will be taken soon ANYONE who tries to link the student's suicide to cheating. Unless the posts and withdrawn and an apology given in 24 hours. Claims to be in touch with the parents.

So I think we should all be careful about what we post on social media. Please do not link the suicide with cheating and take down any such posts. This is VERY sensitive and there is a real risk of criminal action, if we go by the post. I would also suggest to LI to censor any post mentioning ChatGPT use or cheating. This is VERY SERIOUS, guys.

https://x.com/ambedkariteIND/status/2101984631465836972

https://x.com/ambedkariteIND/status/2101944572100403258

Look - I mean I find it really hard to believe that this man is such a virulent casteist that he’s hurling casteist abuse in an exam hall and there haven’t been a string of complaints about him abusing dalit students in other contexts. This is the first time he’s accused of doing something like this and it’s in a room full of students writing exams and the student commits suicide ? What are the odds?

From what I can tell from media- the student wasn’t a slacker either, he was performing quite well but perhaps the stress of things was too much for him. If you’re cheating - it’s literally the job of the invigilator to catch you. That’s not personal for them. And in a place like IITB with their huge batch sizes, I doubt the professor even knew the students name let alone his caste.

Honestly as a law teacher - I can’t tell you the names of all of my students - I can’t even pick some of them out of a line up. That’s is what it is because I have a hundred students every three to four months- I don’t have the time to get to know them or to think about them and their caste gender sexuality whatever. I can only imagine it’s harder at iits with many more students in each batch.

I know either students who are very enthusiastic and topping the batch- or students who disrupt the class and make trouble. Students on the other hand understandably know their professors because they’re listening to them for hours each week. It might be hard for students to put themselves in the position of the teachers. They know all their teachers and have strong opinions about them - cause teachers are fewer in number. It might be incomprehensible or even insulting to some students to realise their teachers don’t know them that well nor have strong opinions. Exam results and disciplinary actions are more often about teacher needing to do his job- either out of a sense of virtue or even reluctantly- rather than personal or group based animus. Teachers don’t even gossip that much about students in my experience. I certainly discussed my teachers more when I was a student than I discuss my students now. Teachers gossip about other teachers primarily. The only real times I’ve discussed students with colleagues is - when I’m telling them I really enjoyed teaching X cause they showed up prepared and asked questions or Y did something very disruptive and disrespectful in class and it pissed me off. For the vast majority of students - this should be a relief- if you keep your head down and do your work - you’re going to blend in at least as far as teachers are concerned.

A lot of the reporting on this stuff is so irresponsible. Dalit students shouldn’t be getting the message that universities are not spaces for them or that they’re excluded or that they have more propensity to commit suicide. That encourages suicides. Instead, we can strengthen mental health services, let students know that not doing well on one exam among hundreds you’ll take during undergraduate course will not ruin your life. And that no one is out to get you or exclude you. It is very possible in 2026 for a dalit student to enter the best universities in the country and do very well and thrive- I have known several who do so everyday. And they should all aspire to that, rather than this learned helplessness.

And honestly each suicide is unique - there’s plenty of causes that lead a person to do that - mental illnesses , family problems, relationship issues, drug dependency, financial worries, job stress all contribute in some way. Exams are maybe a small part of what goes on - but I’d be really surprised if failing one test or having one disco would drive a student to suicide alone. There has to be so much already going on to make a person vulnerable like that.

I have had students confess to me that they were self harming or suicidal - 7 times out of ten it was relationship problems or family dysfunction, 3 times it was a girl who had been sexually abused. Yes exams are stressful, but they are not the kind of stress that breaks most students - most students give exams, do well or not, and move on with their lives. For a person to feel trapped - it has to be something worse. I failed exams in law school - at the time

I was stressed and upset- and then I moved on and did very well in other subjects , and then I worked harder in my job and now I’m doing what I like. But what did drive me to have suicidal thoughts were - romantic rejection, family dysfunction, social bullying by my peers and the death of my baby cat. Teachers were the least of my problems.

I guess what I’m trying to say is - if we want to take student suicide seriously - there has to be more than pin the blame on the teacher. Take it seriously, fix your families , fix how students relate to each other, fix mental health services and fix all this other stuff. It’s easy to pin the blame on the teacher - most teachers feel some sort of responsibility for students and dispositionally would not want to tell bereaved parents and classmates they contributed to it. That doesn’t mean we treat them as sacrificial goats. They’re doing a hard job for very little pay mostly because they like teaching and felt a calling.

I’ve seen people calling for death penalty for the guy on social media. That is gross. I’m sorry it’s just gross to me that anyone can call for killing a teacher who has spent years in service - because one of his students took a wrong turn and committed suicide.

People using identity as leverage in these tragedies should be ashamed of themselves. You can only trade on death for so much without realising your work and activism and purpose requires more and more suffering. And nothing good can come out of this sort of exploitative practice.