The Telangana Police have filed a closure report before a local court in its probe into the death of Rohith Vemula, a student of the University of Hyderabad (UoH). The closure report claimed that the research scholar was not a Dalit and died by suicide in 2016 as he feared that his "real identity" would be discovered. The then UoH vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile and incumbent Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya were among the accused in the case.
The Cyberabad police that investigated the case informed the court that Rohith Vemula did not belong to Scheduled Caste and that he was aware of it, reported news agency PTI.
- “In fact, the ‘caste clarification report’ by the District Level Scrutiny Committee constituted by District Collector, Guntur, conclusively decided that Rohith Vemula and his family belong to BC-A (Vaddera) caste. They had obtained Scheduled Caste certificates fraudulently,” The Hindu quoted the report as stating.
- "... The suicide did not relate to any activities of the university administration or the above political leaders, including Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile. It was wholly a decision of his own. His suicide note is on the record, which shows that Rohith Vemula had his own problems and was not happy with the worldly affairs,” the daily quoted the reprt as saying.
- "The deceased had multiple issues worrying him which could have driven him to commit suicide."
- "If the studies of the deceased were seen, it appeared that he was involved more in student political issues in the campus rather than in his studies. He discontinued his first Ph.D after pursuing it for 2 years and he joined another Ph.D which also did not progress much because of non academic activities."
- "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."
- "Despite best efforts, no evidence could be found to establish that the actions of the accused have driven the deceased to commit suicide."
(If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050, Tele Manas - 14416 (available 24x7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences' helpline - 02225521111, which is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm.)
