Rohith suicide: Scheduled Castes panel summons Guntur Collector

It also issues notices to Telangana CS, V-C of UoH, and Cyberabad Police Commissioner

Dalit leaders, under the banner of dalit and civic organisations’ Joint Action Committee, taking out a procession in Guntur seeking justice in the case relating to suicide of Rohith Vemula.—Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar

Collector and District Magistrate of Guntur Kantilal Dande has been summoned by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes in the case relating to the suicide of Rohit Vemula, a Dalit research scholar of the University of Hyderabad, on January 17.

Mr. Dande is leaving for New Delhi to be present before the Commission on February 15.

The NCSC has issued notices to the Chief Secretary, Telangana, the Vice-Chancellor, University of Hyderabad, and the Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad, to be present with all relevant documents.

The NCSC decision to issue notices comes in the wake of a petition filed by Radhika Vemula, mother of Rohit, over the alleged discrimination faced by Rohit on the campus causing him to take his life.

The NCSC has also taken cognizance of the controversy which erupted over the caste of the deceased scholar and the subsequent inquiries by both the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments.

It began with the ABVP and other BJP-affiliated organisations questioning the validity of the SC caste certificate produced by Rohit during his admission in UoH. The Telangana police and A.P. revenue officers soon launched an inquiry.

Top police officials from the Cyberabad Police Commissionerate have visited Gurazala and Guntur and spoken to Rohit’s father and his grandfather and recorded their statements.

Caste certificate

Revenue sources in Guntur said that a SC certificate was issued in the year 2004. Another certificate was issued in 2014 through Mee Seva, an online government portal.

While Ms Radhika stated that she belonged to SC (Mala) community and had brought up her three children in a Dalit colony, her estranged husband Mani Kumar claimed that Rohit inherited his caste, Vaddera, listed as an OBC community.

Later, it had emerged that Radhika, born to Dalit agricultural coolies, was adopted by Anjani Devi and was married to a man from OBC community. The NCSC has also questioned the top police and revenue officers on the Action Taken Report on the recommendations issued by the Commission dated January 20.