Last week, eight years after the incident, the Telangana police concluded the Rohith Vemula suicide case by submitting its closure report.
What does the report say?
The Telangana police report states that the primary reason for the suicide was that Vemula was aware of not belonging to the Dalit caste and feared that his “real caste” would be discovered. He was stressed about the validity of his SC certificate.
Further, a clean chit was given to the accused in the case. Lack of evidence was cited as the primary reason for the decision. The accused were University of Hyderabad Vice Chancellor P Appa Rao, Secunderabad MP Bandaru Dattatreya, BJP MLC N Ramchender Rao, and Union Minister Smriti Irani.
The final report was prepared in 2018 and was officially submitted to the jurisdictional court on March 21, 2024.
What is the reaction towards the report?
The family of Rohith raised doubts about the credibility of the report. The family said it would legally contest the Telangana Police’s closure report in his 2016 suicide case.
To this, Telangana Director General of Police Ravi Gupta said that they have decided to conduct a further investigation into the case.
His press release said, “As some doubts have been expressed by the mother and others of the deceased, Rohit Vemula, on the investigation conducted, it has been decided to conduct further investigation into the case. A petition will be filed in the court concerned requesting the Hon’ble Magistrate to permit further investigation into the case.”
Additionally, on Friday, a group of students protested at the University of Hyderabad and raised slogans against those accused in the case.
Political angle
Congress
On Sunday, Congress reiterated its long-standing commitment to passing a ‘Rohith Vemula Act’, which is part of the party’s manifesto to ensure social justice, bring equity, and end discrimination. The Act will specifically address the issue of caste and communal atrocities on campuses.
The party said, “grave atrocity” that completely exposed BJP’s anti-Dalit mindset, taking a dig at its opposition amidst the Lok Sabha elections.
A party leader said on X that Congress stood with Rohith Vemula’s family through this difficult time and stated that the investigation conducted had many discrepancies.
BJP
To such claims, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attacked the Congress party for infusing a sensitive issue within the political narrative.
She said “A problem which could have been well handled and resolved amicably in the university was dragged to the streets of the country and allegations were levied” by the opposition “to build a narrative against the government”.
Who was Rohith Vemula?
He was a PhD student at the University of Hyderabad, who belonged to the Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh. He was a member of the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) on the campus.
He was found hanging from a ceiling fan in a hostel room on January 17, 2016, and the incident was reported at the Gachibowli police station.
A letter was discovered wherein nobody was blamed for his death and expressed the feeling that his “birth was his fatal accident.” He was allegedly upset over disciplinary actions that were taken against him by the university.
The university from July 2015, the university stopped paying Rohith his monthly stipend of ₹25,000 for raising issues on the campus under the banner of the Ambedkar Students’ Association.
