Telangana Police To Reopen Rohith Vemula Case After Family Casts Doubts On Closure Report

The Rohith Vemula case is set to reopen after Telangana police filed a closure report challenging his Dalit status and stating his caste identity drove him to suicide.

File Photo: Former Hyderabad University research scholar Rohith Vemula's mother Radhika Vemula holding his photo.

Source : PTI Images

The Rohith Vemula case again struck the headlines after Telangana police filed a closure report which contended that Vemula was not Dalit and stated that his fear of his “real caste” being exposed drove him to commit suicide. More than a month after the report was filed, the police announced the reopening of the case on Friday citing concerns raised by Vemula's family and others. Notably, the report absolved all accused persons.

In a statement released on Friday, Telangana’s Director General of Police (DGP) stated that the final report was compiled in 2018 and officially submitted to the court’s jurisdiction on March 21, 2024. 

“As doubts have been raised by the deceased Rohith Vemula's mother and others regarding the conducted investigation, it has been decided to further scrutinize the case. A request will be made to the Hon’ble Magistrate to allow for additional investigation,” the DGP stated.

Rohith Vemula death case | "As some doubts have been expressed by the mother and others of the deceased Rohith Vemula on the investigation conducted, it has been decided to conduct further investigation into the case. A petition will be filed in the Court concerned requesting the…

— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2024

READ | 'Rohith Vemula Wasn't Dalit': Telangana Police Files Closure Report, Triggers Protest

BJP Says Rohith Vemula Case 'Politicised' By Congress

The reactions to the closure report varied, with some criticising the report, and others defending the conclusions. Here’s a rundown of the latest reactions on the case.

1. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Executive Committee member Ramchander Rao, also an accused in the case, criticised the Congress for politicising Vemula’s death back then and demanded apologies from them. 
2. “Eight years back, an unfortunate incident occurred in Hyderabad Central University, wherein a student (Rohith Vemula) committed suicide. In his suicide note, he neither blamed any organisation, nor individual. Despite that, all the opposition leaders reached the university to mislead students and exploited the issue politically by bringing in the caste factor. Back then, I reached the university and told the VC that these incidents should not happen again. It is the political parties that exploited this issue to blame the BJP government at the Centre,” he told ANI. 
3. Echoing similar sentiments, BJP leader Ajay Alok said, “It is not about whether Rohith Vemula was a Dalit or not, but it is about why a youth committed suicide. As the central government, we were sensitive then, and we are sensitive now.”
4. “The question should be asked to those who interrupted the parliamentary sessions for 1.5 months at that time... They do politics on the death of a young man. No one (in the opposition) was concerned about the situations in which Rohith committed suicide and what steps the central government was taking to avoid such situations... 'Ye Mohabbat ke Dukaan mein sirf Nafrat bech rahe hain'...,” he added. 
5. A student protestor and NSUI General Secretary Prabhakar Singh said, “The closing report which has been filed is not an investigation report. It is the investigation of the caste of Rohith Vemula. This was not supposed to be investigated. The investigation should have been about... the people who have a role in harassing Rohith Vemula and forcing him to commit suicide. It was not a suicide, but an institutional murder...We will not leave any stone unturned to bring justice to Rohith Vemula”. 

Rohith Vemula Case

The case surrounding the death of University of Hyderabad PhD scholar Rohith Vemula in January 2016 is set to undergo additional scrutiny, more than a month after Telanagana police filed a closure report. The state’s DGP announced this decision, citing doubts raised by Venula’s mother and others. 

Initially, the police’s closure report contended that Vemula was not Dalit and stated that fear of his “real cast” being exposed drove him to suicide. 

The case, initially filed in 2016 under charges of abetment to suicide and violation of the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, saw all accused persons exonerated in the closure report. Among them were then Secunderabad MP Bandaru Dattatreya, MLC N Ramchender Rao, Union Minister Smriti Irani, and the University of Hyderabad Vice Chancellor P Appa Rao, all affiliated with the BJP. 

However, the family has denied all the allegations. Rohith Vemula’s brother, according to an Indian Express report, expressed shock over the closure report. He further urged authorities for a thorough investigation into the alleged harassment his brother faced. He pledged to seek support from Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to reopen the case. 

“The responsibility of the Telangana Police was to investigate if my brother was harassed to the point that he took his life. Instead, they again went for his caste. We are not going to take this, we are going to fight,” he was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

Rohith Vemula’s mother, Radhika Vemula, maintained their Scheduled Caste identity, refuting claims made in the closure report, as reported by Indian Express. She reiterated her readiness for another legal battle.  

READ | 'Will Bring Rohith Vemula Act': Congress Passes Resolution At 85th Plenary Session