Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], May 4 : A day after the Telangana Police filed a closure report in the case involving the death of PhD scholar, Rohith Vemula, who died by suicide in January 2016, the mother of PhD scholar Radhika Vemula said that the fight will continue until his son gets "justice."
Rohith Vemula died by suicide in January 2016 allegedly upset over disciplinary actions taken against him by Hyderabad Central University where he was pursuing a PhD.
Addressing a press conference, Rohith Vemula's mother Radhika Vemula said that Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy confirmed that the case is being investigated.
"The fight will continue until Rohith Vemula gets justice. It is not correct for the police to claim that Rohith committed suicide because he could not study properly. He was good in his studies. He passed all competitive exams held at the national level. How will the police prove that Rohith Vemula is not SC? Chief Minister Revanth Reddy confirmed that the case is being investigated," she said.
She further said that the Telangana Chief Minister informed us that the case was closed of Rohith.
"I met Revanth Reddy in the morning and told him that the case was closed. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi gave us a word...They said Rohit Vemula's education certificate certificates are fake, but they are not. He was second in school in the 10th class," she told ANI.
Rohith's mother Radhika and his brother Raja Vemula and other university students addressed the media at the main gate of the University of Hyderabad, Gachibowli.
Meanwhile, a student PhD political science, Gangeshwar on Rohith Vemula's case said that the closure report that we got was a great shock to us.
"The case was filed by Dalit scholars of the campus to investigate the role of the then Vice Chancellor, the then Labour Minister, the then MHRD minister, and the then ABVP president. Their involvement in the institutional murder of Rohith Vemula. Their discriminatory behaviour towards Rohith Vemula. The police have not investigated any of this. Instead, the police report investigates and criminalizes Rohith Vemula," he said.
Earlier in the day, Rohith Vemula's family met with Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and submitted a representation urging the Congress government in the state to reinvestigate the case.
Radhika Vemula, mother of Rohith Vemula said that the Chief Minister has assured that a fair enquiry will be conducted again adding that "this government will deliver us justice."
Rohith Vemula's brother Vemula Raja said that the Telangana Director General of Police has said that they will a petition in the High Court urging reinvestigation.
"After the filing of the Closure Report, the Telangana DGP has stated that they are going to reinvestigate the case and they will file a petition in the High Court. We have given a representation to the CM who has promised us a fair and transparent investigation to deliver justice to Rohith Vemula. We believe that the Congress government will reinvestigate the case," Vemula Raja said.
Earlier it was reported that the Telangana Police had filed a closure report, stating that Vemula did not belong to the SC community and died by suicide. The closure was filed by the investigation officer on March 21.
Speaking on the closure report, the Telangana DGP Ravi Gupta said that they will file a petition requesting permission for further investigation in the case. He further said that the closure report was prepared before November last year and officially filed in court in March 2024.
"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 Magistrate to permit further investigation into the case. The Investigation Officer in the case was Asst. Commissioner of Police, Madhapur and the final closure report in the case was prepared last year, that is before November 2023 itself based on the investigation conducted. The final closure report was officially filed in the jurisdictional court on March 21, 2024, by the Investigation Officer," Telangana DGP Ravi Gupta said.
However, the Telangana Director General of Police said on Friday they have decided to conduct a further investigation into the death of the research scholar in January 2016.
The decision came days after the state police filed a closure report in their investigation into the matter.
Vemula, a PhD scholar at the Hyderabad Central University, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in a hostel room on January 17, 2016. He was allegedly upset over disciplinary actions taken against him by the university.