The Justice Roopanwal Commission, constituted by the HRD Ministry after the death of a student in Hyderabad University, Rohit Vemula to investigate into his suicide, has said that the records did not establish that Vemula belonged to the Dalit caste and he committed suicide due to personal frustration, reports said.

According to the reports, the Commission, in its report to the HRD ministry, has given a clean chit to the Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya, sources said. It has also said that the University authorities have not been working under political pressure.

The commission also raised questions about Vemula’s caste status as a Dalit, stating that there is no proof that his mother V Radhika belonged to ‘Mala’ community. It has said that Vemula’s mother could have given the statement that she belonged to ‘Mala’ community to support the caste certificate which was issued to Vemula.

In the report, commission has noted that Vemula’s mother was not told the names of her biological parents by her foster family. Therefore, it is unlikely that she would have been told the caste of her biological parents.

However, maintaining that the Commission’s work is to focus on those recommendations which aim at ensuring that such incidents do not happen in the future.

In its recommendations, the commission has emphasized that there should be proper counseling mechanism not just for the students but also for the research scholars. It has also added that there should be a proper grievance redressal mechanisms and equal opportunity cells so that the unfortunate incidents like the suicide of Rohit Vemula can be prevented.

Rohit Vemula’s suicide had triggered huge political controversy as the then HRD minister Smriti Irani coming under attack along with labor minister Badaru Dattatreya for writing a letter related to the matter.

By Prajakt K.