ChatGPT Exam Incident at IIT Bombay: Student Death Spurs Protests and Inquiry Demands

The death of a 22-year-old student of IIT Bombay after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone during an examination triggered protests on the Powai campus, with students demanding an inquiry.

Sahil Ravindra Wakode, a second-year BTech student in the Energy Science and Engineering department, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his room in Hostel Number 4 on Friday evening, a police official said.

IIT Bombay said Wakode had allegedly uploaded the examination question paper to ChatGPT to seek answers during the exam.

The institute said the student was found using a mobile phone in the examination hall. However, no disciplinary action was initiated against him, it said.

The examination instructor and the Head of the Department discussed the matter with Wakode and counselled him. They also assured him that the incident would not adversely affect his academic career, according to the institute.

Wakode returned to his hostel room and was found dead later that evening.The incident came to light after hostel mates alerted the authorities, who informed the police.

No suicide note was recovered from the spot by police, the police official said on Saturday in Mumbai. The Powai police registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) and sent the body for post-mortem examination.

In a statement issued late on Friday, IIT Bombay said it was extending support to the student’s friends, classmates, faculty members and others affected by the death.The institute said the circumstances surrounding the student’s death were being probed.

The incident is the third reported case of suicide at the IIT Bombay campus in Powai in seven months. In February, a second-year student died by suicide in a hostel. In July 2026, at the beginning of the new semester, a 20-year-old second-year BTech student also died by suicide on campus.