After getting thrown out from Hyderabad Central university (HCU) hostel two weeks ago, a 22 year old student was found hanging, yesterday evening.

Vermula Rohit allegedly committed suicide and a few of the University students sat with the body all night, raising slogans against the authorities. After the issue went viral, a police team reached the spot and arrested eight students and took away Rahul’s body.

After Rahul, along with four others, who were denied to enter the hostel, he had been living in a tent outside the campus gates, for about two weeks.

In August, the five Dalit scholars, who were even the members of the Ambedkar union, are accused after they had attacked an activist of the BJP-linked Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP),  allegedly during a protest against the execution of 1993 Bombay blasts convict Yakub Memon.

The ABVP activist had alleged that, he was assaulted by 30 students. After conducting an initial inquiry, the university cleared Rohit and others, but allegedly, after a Central Minister intervened in the issue, the university reversed its decision and thus barred the students from the hostel, the mess, libraries and other common areas, on December 21st. They even suffered a social boycott, a few of their friends said.

According to Rohit's friend Venkat, he was "heartbroken" that his requests for an appointment with the Vice Chancellor had been ignored, even though he had been living in the open for days.

Yesterday morning, Rohit reportedly said, “'Even Dalit professors who came to meet us supported the Vice Chancellor rather than us.” Hours later, he allegedly went quietly into a hostel room and hanged himself.

After his body was found, protests erupted on the campus and students raised slogans outside the Vice Chancellor's office. The students even got irritated with the media and chased them.

By Phani Ch