Rohith Vemula suicide: Police awaits legal opinion as questions about his caste identity persist

Hyderabad: The Cyberabad police (Cyberabad Metropolitan Police) on Friday said they are awaiting legal opinion in the Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula suicide case, after getting a report from the revenue authorities that he did not belong to a Scheduled Caste (SC) community.

The alleged suicide on the University of Hyderabad campus in January 2016 had triggered a firestorm of protest with nationwide repercussions.

Former Union labour minister Dattatreya, Hyderabad University’s Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao and three others were named in the criminal case under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act lodged with the Cyberabad police over the suicide.

Sandip Sandilay, Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad, said the police had received a report from the Guntur district Collector that Vemula didn’t belong to the Scheduled Caste (SC) category.

“We had to get a report from the Revenue Department as to whether he belonged to the SC category or not. Because of that our investigation got delayed. You cannot blame us (for the delay),” Sandilay said.

“A report has come from the Collector (from a committee formed by the Collector). So (now) we have written to our legal adviser for clarification. Once that comes, this case will see finalisation,” Sandilay told reporters when asked why the case hasn’t seen any progress.