The Telangana government has submitted a legal note in the High Court seeking directions to reopen a case about the suicide of University of Hyderabad scholar Rohith Vemula, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said on Friday, according to The Indian Express.
Vikramarka, a Congress leader, said at a press conference in Delhi that the government “will not leave anybody involved in the case.”
The deputy chief minister questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party’s decision to appoint N Ramchander Rao as the new head of its Telangana unit.
Rao, a former MLC, was among the accused named in the original case related to Vemula’s death.
“It shows that whoever goes against Adivasis and whoever goes against Dalits will be rewarded by the BJP,” Vikramarka was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. “The BJP has to apologise to the nation. Is targeting Dalits the qualification for you to appoint as president.”
Rohith Vemula, a PhD scholar at Hyderabad Central University, had died by suicide on January 17, 2016. In his suicide note, he had alleged caste-based discrimination and harassment by the university.
Vemula had been protesting against the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, which is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s student wing, and the administration at the University of Hyderabad for their decision to bar five Dalit men, including himself, from using their hostels and the university’s public spaces.
Vemula was a leader of the Ambedkar Students Association.
His death triggered nationwide protests and sparked a movement against caste-based discrimination in higher educational institutions. Following his death, police registered a case of abetment to suicide and invoked charges under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act.
In May 2024, eight years after Vemula’s death, the Telangana Police filed a closure report in the case that claimed that Vemula did not belong to the Scheduled Caste category and hence died by suicide fearing that his real caste identity would be discovered.
The report also alleged that the Vemula family forged their caste certificates. However, the family has maintained that Rohith Vemula’s mother is a Dalit Mala by birth and was adopted by a woman belonging to an Other Backward Classes community.
The closure report also cleared the accused persons: Secunderabad MP at the time Bandaru Dattatreya, Member of Legislative Council N Ramachander Rao, Vice Chancellor of University of Hyderabad Appa Rao, Leaders from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani.
Also read: 'I loved Science, Stars, Nature': Suicide by suspended Dalit student sparks nationwide protests
You’ve read Scroll.
Now help sustain it
Scroll is funded by readers, not corporate owners. If you believe our work matters, support our newsroom. Become a member today!
We’re not driven by clicks or corporate interests – just honest, independent reporting. Keep us going. Support Scroll today!