Exclusive | Rohith Vemula suicide: Police spent energies on disproving his caste, ignored letter to V-C asking for poison and rope

The report — prepared in 2018 and officially submitted in the jurisdictional court on March 21 this year — claims that Vemula was not a Dalit and that it was likely the fear that his “real caste” would be revealed that led him to suicide. On Friday, Telangana’s Director General of Police said they have decided to conduct further investigations as “some doubts have been expressed” by Vemula’s mother and others.

The probe

The investigation into the 2016 suicide case was first carried out by M Ramana Kumar, the then Assistant Commissioner of Police of Madhapur Division, Hyderabad Police, followed by ACP N Shyam Prasad Rao, and finally by ACP C Sreekanth.

As per the report, when Kumar started the investigation, student protests were going on in the university and the atmosphere was not conducive. “To save time, the ACP decided to collect evidence available outside the university first and then collect evidence available at the university when normalcy is restored,” it states. The ACP submitted letters to the principal of Guntur’s Kanna School where Rohith did his schooling; Hindupur’s ARRJ College where he did his intermediate; and Hindu College in Guntur from where he graduated. At all three institutes, the investigating officer sought his application forms, transfer certificates, etc.

B Kondaiah, the then principal of ARRJ college, informed the IO that Rohith had studied there during 2004-2006 and that he had submitted a certified copy of the certificate issued by his previous principal stating that he was from the Mala Scheduled Caste. The principal of Hindu College in Guntur also furnished records of Rohith doing his BSc from 2006-2009, and his caste being mentioned as SC in the records.

The IO then recorded the statements of Rohith’s father and grandparents, and the sarpanch of Gurazala town where they live. Rohith’s father Vemula Naga Mani Kumar and grandfather Venkateshwarlu told the IO that they belong to the Vaddera community, and that Mani Kumar and Rohith’s mother Radhika Banala, who too was from a Vaddera family, had an arranged marriage. The report states, “They stated that they are not aware as to why Vemula Radhika is claiming her caste as SC when she was a born Vaddera.”

However, on February 8, 2016, just a few days after Rohith’s suicide, The Indian Express had been told by Radhika’s mother Banala Anjani Devi that she had adopted Radhika from an SC Mala couple who were railway construction workers.

Devi, who belongs to the backward Vaddera community, had said that Radhika decided to revert to her original Mala caste after her marriage turned sour and she became estranged from her husband. Devi, a retired school headmistress, passed away in Guntur on February 23, 2016, just over a month after Rohith’s suicide.

After recording the statements of Rohit’s paternal family members, the IO requested the tehsildar of Gurazala to furnish the caste particulars of Rohit’s father. The IO also recorded the statement of Gurazala sarpanch Mahankali Seethamma, who stated that she was distantly related to the family and they belong to the Vaddera caste.

Next, the IO sought admission records from Jalagam Rama Rao Memorial Municipal High School, where Radhika had studied from class 6 to 10 and where her foster mother Anjani Devi was a teacher. Records indicated that Anjani Devi had mentioned Radhika’s caste as Vaddera.

The IO was unable to record Anjani Devi’s statement as she had already passed away. The IO then interviewed other family members, who all claimed Radhika was Vaddera. The IO also sought records from the Guntur tehsildar about Radhika before she got married.

On the IO’s request, the Gurazala tehsildar submitted records of a birth certificate issued belatedly to Rohith’s brother Raja Chaitanya Kumar Vemula on July 2, 2014, in which both Radhika and her husband Mani Kumar declared his caste as Vaddera. However, Raja, his sister Neelima and Rohith had already been issued SC caste certificates in 2007, 2003, and 2005 respectively.

A District Level Scrutiny Committee set up by the Guntur District Collector following Rohit’s death found that nine SC certificates were issued to Radhika, Rohith, Raja and Neelima between 2000 and 2015, and it recommended cancelling them since they were fraudulently obtained, the report noted. The report concluded that Rohith and his family members were from the Vaddera community, falling under BC-A caste, and they had obtained SC caste certificates fraudulently.

The HRD report

The closure report also quoted liberally from the report of the Justice Ashok Kumar Roopanwal commission, which was formed by the HRD Ministry to look into the facts and circumstances into Rohith’s death. Rohith had previously been expelled from his hostel room after allegedly being involved in an altercation with some members of the RSS-affiliated students body, ABVP.

The closure report emphasised the Roopanwal commission’s observation that since Rohith had appealed against his punishment in the High Court and the matter was pending, there was no reason for him to commit suicide. It quotes Roopanwal’s opinion that the suicide was not connected to any activities of the university administration or political leaders or the V-C.

Quoting the commission’s report, the closure report states, “It was wholly a decision of his own… He was feeling frustrated for reasons best known to him. He did not blame anybody for his suicide. If he would have been angry with the decision of the university, certainly he would have written specific words or would have indicated in this regard.”

The closure report also dismissed Rohith’s letter to the V-C on December 18, 2015, asking for poison and a rope to commit suicide, observing, “If examined whether this can be an indication for his suicide, this letter was written a month in advance and the disappointment, anger with which it might have been written must have died down with the lapse of time. It is pertinent to note that the deceased did not refer to any of the issues raised by him in his letter to the V-C. Thus, it appears he has got reasons which are entirely different to what he has written in the December 18 letter.”

The closure report relied heavily on the suicide note in which Rohith expressed that his birth was a fatal accident to conclude that he “was under severe depression and disappointment”.

The report also highlighted that Rohith’s parents are separated and that he was more involved in student politics than studies. It stated, “In addition to this, the deceased himself is aware that he does not belong to scheduled caste and that his mother got him SC certificate.”

Giving a clean chit to the accused, it concluded, “Despite best efforts, no evidence could be found to establish that the actions of the accused have driven the deceased to commit suicide.”

When contacted, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Madhapur Division, Hyderabad Police) Dr G Vinneth said, “We are appealing to the court to re-examine the case based on its merits. The mother and brother of the deceased have expressed some doubts and concerns and we will ensure their side is also heard and investigated so that they do not feel aggrieved.”