“Congress Will Ensure Justice To Rohith Vemula’s Family”: KC Venugopal

Amid the row over a closure report filed by the Telangana Police in connection with the death of PhD scholar Rohith Vemula, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Sunday said Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and his government will ensure justice and closure for his family members.

Rohith Vemula died by suicide in January 2016.

Mr Venugopal reiterated his party’s long-standing commitment to passing a Rohith Vemula Act if Congress forms government at the Centre after Lok Sabha polls.

“Rohith Vemula’s death was a grave atrocity that completely exposed the anti-Dalit mindset of the BJP. The Congress, including Rahul Gandhi ji, has stood with Rohith Vemula’s family through this difficult period. As has been clarified by the Telangana Police, the concerned closure report was prepared in June 2023. There were many discrepancies in the investigation conducted previously. The Congress government in Telangana will leave no stone unturned to ensure justice for Rohith’s family,” Mr Venugopal posted from his X handle.

He added that the Rohith Vemula Act will ensure that no student born into socio-economic backwardness faces caste and communal atrocities on college campuses.

“When we form a government at the Centre, we will pass a Rohith Vemula Act specifically addressing the issue of caste and communal atrocities on campuses to ensure no student coming from socio-economic backwardness has to face the same plight as Rohith ever again,” he posted.

Rohith was allegedly upset over disciplinary actions taken against him by Hyderabad Central University where he was pursuing a PhD.

Earlier, the Telangana Police filed a closure report stating that Vemula did not belong to the SC community as was claimed 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 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.

However, the Telangana Director General of Police said on Friday they have decided to conduct a further investigation into the death of the research scholar in January 2016.

The decision came days after the state police filed a closure report in their investigation into the matter. 

Mr Vemula, a PhD scholar at the Hyderabad Central University, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in a hostel room on January 17, 2016.