(Image source from: Police investigation suggests)
Investigations on the caste origin of PhD scholar Rohith Vemula Chakravarthi was being carried out by the Cyberabad police as suspicious were raised on whether he was a dalit or not. On 17 January 2015, Rohith Vemula committed suicide in the University of Hyderabad campus.
Vemula's home village is located in Guntur. After carrying out investigations, police reportedly identified that both the scholar’s parents belonged to the stonecutting caste of Vadera. Vadera is an ‘Other Backward Class’ but not ‘Dalit’.
A top police source was quoted by ET a saying that, "We have found that neither of Rohith Vemula's parents belongs to the SC/ST community, though they managed to get a certificate in Guntur stating that they belong to the scheduled Mala community. We are now investigating how they managed to get the certificate."
According to police, certain people wanted to explore a caste angle. The case was filed against Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, Ramachandra Rao (BJP MLC) and Appa Rao Podile (University of Hyderabad Vice-Chancellor) under the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes Atrocities Act. Thus, the investigation along with its findings has a major implication and the case is likely collapse in case Vemula is not a dalit.
Raja Chaitanya, Vemula's brother, told ET that, "We have a certificate to prove that we belong to the scheduled caste. We are estranged from our father and have nothing to do with him. We are Dalits. We will respond with proof."
Madhu Yashki Goud, Congress spokesperson told ET, that, "I have no trust in the police investigation in this matter. The state government has not taken the FIR seriously and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has not even bothered to condole Vemula's death."
The FIR was filed against Dattatreya and the others by the police based on a complaint given by the UoH students. According to the source, students did not allow them to move Vemula’s body until FIR was filed and these people were named under the SC/ST Act. "Our investigations indicate that this is false and he belongs to the Vadera caste.
So the sections filed against the accused under the SC/ST Act will not hold water," the source added.
-Sumana
