Hyderabad: The Telangana police has submitted a closure report regarding the case of Rohith Vemula, the University of Hyderabad PhD scholar who tragically died by suicide in January 2016.
The 60-page report absolves several individuals, including the then Secunderabad MP and Union Minister for Urban Development, Bandaru Dattatreya, Member of Legislative Council N Ramachander Rao, Vice Chancellor Appa Rao, ABVP leaders, and Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani.
Dattrateya is now the Governor of Haryana and the closure report comes as a ‘great relief’ as he happens to be a ‘spotless leader’ of the BJP, who come up as an RSS activist. Incidently at that time, Smriti Irani was the Minister for Human Resources.
Scheduled to be presented in the Telangana High Court on May 3, the report suggests that Rohith did not belong to the Scheduled Caste category and implies that his suicide may have been prompted by fears surrounding the discovery of his “real caste identity.” Furthermore, it alleges that the caste certificates of Rohith’s family were forged, though no evidence is provided to support this claim. Notably, this report surfaces four months after the Congress government assumed power in Telangana.
The timing is significant as it comes just 10 days before Telangana’s Lok Sabha polls on May 13. In 2016, the Congress had supported the ‘Justice for Vemula campaign’, with Rahul Gandhi advocating for the implementation of a law called the Rohith Vemula Act to protect the educational and dignitary rights of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, and minorities. Even during his recent Bharat Jodo Yatra, he extended an invitation to Rohith’s mother, Radhika Vemula, to join the Congress.
Despite this, neither the Telangana Congress nor the central leadership has responded to the closure report. Leaders of the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) and Rohith Vemula’s relatives, including his mother Radhika, have refrained from making statements until the court hearing on Friday.
While the case initially revolved around charges 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 delves into Rohith’s caste identity rather than the circumstances leading to his death. It concludes that there is insufficient evidence to determine what drove him to suicide and absolves anyone of responsibility for his death.
The report suggests that Rohith was aware that he did not belong to the Scheduled Caste and that his mother obtained the SC certificate for him. It posits that the fear of this being revealed may have been a constant concern for Rohith, as it could result in the loss of academic degrees and potential legal repercussions.
