Cyberabad police are likely to finalise the case of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula, who ended his life allegedly due to harassment by University of Hyderabad officials, having received the report from Guntur district collector about his caste status.
“Nearly three months ago, the Guntur collector had sent an official report confirming that Rohith Vemula's mother Radhika did not belong to Scheduled Caste,” a Cyberabad police officer unwilling to be named said. Investigation into Rohith’s suicide got stalled as conflicting reports emerged over his caste status.
Confirmation of Rohith’s caste status turned out to be crucial since provisions of the Prevention of Atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act were invoked in the case. While the research scholar's family maintained that he was a Dalit, the investigators couldn't finalise it immediately as they stumbled upon some documents allegedly suggesting that he belonged to Vaddera community (categorised as Backward Class).
“In our inquiry, Tahesildar of Guntur confirmed that Rohith's mother Radhika and her father belonged to Vaddera community,” the investigators said. The Tahesildar of Gurajala in Guntur (where Rohith's father lived) too communicated to the investigators that Rohith's father was from the Vaddera community. Investigators also found that in a statement made before the revenue authorities of Gurajala, Ms. Radhika claimed that she and her second son belonged to Vaddera community.
However, Ms. Radhika stuck to her guns maintaining that she was born to Dalit parents but brought up by a couple from Vaddera community. The Madhapur ACP Ramana Kumar wrote to Guntur Collector to clarify on Rohith’s caste status. Cyberabad police higher-ups too wrote to Guntur Collector who constituted a panel to ascertain facts. Finally, the Collector sent the report to Cyberabad police three months ago confirming Ms. Radhika didn’t belong to SC.
