Rohith Vemula's mother Radhika Vemula met Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in Hyderabad today (May 4) and urged him to see that "justice" is done to the family. Reddy assured her that an investigation would be conducted again into the University of Hyderabad student's suicide in 2016 and that justice would be done.
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, his family petitioned Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and submitted a representation urging the Congress government in the state to reinvestigate the case.
Deliver justice to us: Radhika Vemula
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."
"The closure report was given based on the incidents that happened in 2018. There was no enquiry after that. We have come to meet the CM today as the report has been given now. The CM has assured that a fair enquiry will be conducted again," Radhika Vemula told media on Saturday.
"We have also talked about the case of the other students who were suspended along with Rohith. Those students are not getting jobs because of the cases and the PhD students are doing agricultural jobs. The CM also assured to look into those cases as well. We believe that this government will deliver us justice," she added.
Rohith Vemula's brother urges reinvestigation
Rohith Vemula's brother Vemula Raja said that the Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) has said that they will file 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.
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.
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