- By Aashish Vashistha
- Sat, 04 May 2024 08:22 AM (IST)
- Source:PTI
The family of University of Hyderabad student Rohith Vemula, who died by suicide in 2016, said that they will legally challenge the Telangana Police’s closure report in this case. Vemula’s family will reportedly file a petition in court to seek further investigation. His brother Raja Vemula questioned how the police could say he was not a Scheduled Caste (SC). He further emphasised that the Telangana High Court gave them an option to file a ‘protest petition’ in the lower court.
Reacting to the closure report, Rohith Vemula’s brother Raja said, “Whether Rohith belonged to the Scheduled Caste community or not should come from the district collector of Guntur in Andhra Pradesh…How can the police say he was not an SC?”
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Raja Vemula also said that they are planning to meet Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on the matter. Meanwhile, Telangana Director General of Police Ravi Gupta said in a statement late on Friday that a petition will be filed in the court concerned, requesting the magistrate to permit further investigations, as reported by news agency PTI.
Who Was Rohith Vemula?
Rohith Vemula was a popular name etched into the fabric of Indian activism. He was a PhD scholar at Hyderabad Central University died by suicide on January 17, 2016, which sparked nationwide outrage. The incident occurred almost a year after the Hyderabad University reportedly stopped paying his fellowship. He was reportedly suspended from the University after getting involved in a fight with some members of the ABVP.
The Telangana Police in its closure report said that Rohith Vemula was not a Dalit and died by suicide. (ANI Image)
The Hyderabad University’s then vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile, former BJP MP Bandaru Dattatreya, BJP ex-MLC N Ramachander Rao, and some ABVP leaders were among the accused.
What Did The Telangana Police Closure Report Say?
The Telangana Police in its closure report said that Rohith Vemula was not a Dalit and died by suicide as he feared that his "real identity" would be discovered. “In addition to this, the deceased himself was aware that he did not belong to Scheduled Caste and that his mother got him a SC certificate. This could be one of the constant fears as the exposure of the same would result in a loss of his academic degrees that he earned over the years and be compelled to face prosecution,” the closure report said.
“The deceased had multiple issues worrying him, which could have driven him to commit suicide," it further added. The Telangana Police also closed the suicide case and gave clean chit to the accused, involving then Secunderabad MP Bandaru Dattatreya, MLC N. Ramchander Rao and former University of Hyderabad Vice Chancellor Appa Rao, besides Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani and leaders of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the report said.