PhD scholar Rohith Vemula died by suicide in January 2016.The Telangana police have filed a closure report concerning the University of Hyderabad (UoH) PhD scholar Rohith Vemula, who died by suicide in January 2016. According to The News Minute, the report absolves several individuals, including the then Secunderabad MP Bandaru Dattatreya, Member of Legislative Council NRamachander Rao, Vice Chancellor Appa Rao, ABVP leaders, and Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani.
Expected to be presented in the Telangana High Court today, the report suggests that Rohith may not have belonged to the Scheduled Caste category and speculates that his suicide could have been driven by fears of his “real caste identity” being exposed. It further alleges that his family’s caste certificates might have been forged, though no evidence is provided to support this claim. The report surfaces four months after the Congress government assumed power in Telangana, and just days before Telangana votes in the Lok Sabha polls on May 13.
The Congress had supported the ‘Justice for Vemula campaign’ and pledged to enact the Rohith Vemula Act, aimed at upholding the educational and dignitary rights of Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and minorities. During his Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi had even extended an invitation to Rohith’s mother, Radhika Vemula, to join the Congress.
Despite these past commitments, the Telangana Congress has not yet responded to the closure report. Leaders of the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) and Rohith Vemula’s mother have also refrained from making statements until the court hearing scheduled for Friday.
While the case was lodged under Section 306 (Abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities (POA) Act, the closure report primarily focuses on Vemula’s caste background rather than the circumstances leading to his death. It concludes that there’s insufficient evidence to attribute his suicide to any specific cause, asserting, “There is no evidence of any fact or circumstance available on the record which dragged him to commit suicide and no one is responsible for his death.”
The report suggests that Rohith was “aware that he does not belong to the Scheduled Caste” and implies that his mother got him the SC certificate.
Radhika Vemula has maintained her SC Mala caste identity, having been raised as a househelp by a Vaddera OBC family, while Rohith’s father, Mani Kumar, also from the Vaddera community, abandoned Radhika and their children upon learning of her Dalit background.
Regarding the expulsion of Rohith and other Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) leaders from their hostels, the report justifies this action as in line with the university’s disciplinary rules, specifically citing clauses from the University of Hyderabad’s statutes. It defends restrictions placed on their movement within the campus, purportedly aimed at preventing further disruptions under the guise of protest.