Rohith Vemula case file closed; Telangana police absolves ex VC, BJP leaders

Hyderabad: In the case of University of Hyderabad (UoH) PhD student Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide in January 2016, the Telangana police have filed a closure report. This report absolved the then Secunderabad MP Bandaru Dattatreya, Legislative Council member N Ramachander Rao, Vice Chancellor Appa Rao, leaders of the ABVP, and Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani. The report, which is scheduled to be handed to the Telangana High Court on Friday, May 3, states that Rohith was not a member of the Scheduled Caste and suggests that he committed suicide out of concern that his "real caste identity" would come to light. It further claims—without offering any supporting documentation—that family members' caste certificates were forged. Remarkably, the report was released four months after Telangana's Congress government took office, the News Minute reported.

Merely ten days remain till Telangana casts its votes in the Lok Sabha elections on May 13. In 2016, Congress provided backing to the "Justice for Vemula campaign," with Rahul Gandhi, the party's leader, promising to "safeguard the right to education and dignity" for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and minorities by enacting the Rohith Vemula Act. He had invited Rohith's mother Radhika Vemula to become a member of the Congress during his most recent Bharat Jodo Yatra.

But as of right now, neither the Central leadership nor the Telangana Congress have commented on the closure report. Leaders of the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) and Rohith Vemula's family, including his mother Radhika, declined to comment when reached until Friday's court hearing.

The closure report predominantly addresses Vemula's caste location rather than the reasons for his death, despite the fact that the case was primarily registered under Section 306 (Abetment to Suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and pertinent parts of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities (POA) Act. “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 reads.

According to the closure report, Rohith's mother obtained the SC certificate for him, and he was "aware that he does not belong to the Scheduled Caste." According to the statement, Rohith might have been afraid that if this were to come to light, he would lose his academic degrees and could be subject to prosecution.

It should be mentioned that Radhika Vemula has consistently insisted that she is a member of the SC Mala caste and was brought up as domestic help by an OBC Vaddera family since she was a young girl. Mani Kumar, Rohith's father, was a member of the Vaddera community as well. He left Radhika and her children when he learned that she was a Dalit.

The report claims that Rohith committed suicide because "he had his own problems and was not happy with worldly affairs," and absolves political figures and the university administration, including Vice Chancellor Appa Rao, who the students had launched the lawsuit against. The report blames Rohith for "appearing to be involved more in student political issues in the campus than studies" despite his excellent academic record.

“If he would have been angry with the decision of the University, certainly either he would have written in specific words or would have indicated in this regard. But he did not do the same. It shows that the circumstances prevailing in the university at the time were not the reason for Rohith’s death,” the report adds.

These statements have been made even though Rohith addressed a sarcastic letter to Appa Rao condemning the administration harshly for the treatment of students from the Dalit community.

“Please serve 10 mg of Sodium Azide to all Dalit students at the time of admission with directions to use when they feel like reading Ambedkar. Supply a nice rope to the rooms of all Dalit students from companion, the great Chief Warden,” he had written, adding that Euthanasia should be made available to students like him.

The closure report also mentions that Radhika Vemula, Rohith's mother, was asked by the investigating officer (IO) if she would be willing to undergo a DNA test to find out her caste location. “She remained silent when I asked her whether she is willing to undergo a DNA test to compare with samples of her family members to determine whether they were biologically related to her or not,” reads the report.

The report further states that Rohith and other Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) leaders being expelled from their hostels was “one of the punishments prescribed in the university disciplinary rules.” According to the report, the rules referred to are ‘in keeping with Clause Proctor 9(1) and 9 (2) of the Statues of the University of Hyderabad.’

The university administration issued an order prohibiting students from accessing the hostel, administrative building, and other public areas, as well as from participating in student elections, with the exception of their schools/departments, libraries, and other academic seminars. According to the article, this restriction was put in place to ‘prevent them from committing further disturbance in the administrative block in the name of protest.”