Rohith Vemula not a Dalit, says Telangana police in closure report

Police have filed a closure report before a local court following a probe into the death of Rohith Vemula, a student of University of Hyderabad, claiming he was not a Dalit and died by suicide as he feared that his "real identity" would be discovered.

The Cyberabad police, who investigated the case informed the court that Rohith Vemula did not belong to Scheduled Caste and that he was aware of it.

Vemula died by suicide in 2016.

"In addition to this, the deceased himself was aware that he did not belong to Scheduled Caste and that his mother got him a SC certificate. This could be one of the constant fears as the exposure of the same would result in a loss of his academic degrees that he earned over the years and be compelled to face prosecution," the report said.

"The deceased had multiple issues worrying him which could have driven him to commit suicide," it said.

"Despite best efforts, no evidence could be found to establish that the actions of the accused have driven the deceased to commit suicide," it said.

The then vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile, incumbent Haryana Governor and then Secunderabad MP Bandaru Dattatreya, MLC N Ramchender Rao, and Union minister Smriti Irani were among the accused.