Rohith Vemula was a troubled individual, didn’t commit suicide over Hyderabad Central University action: Inquiry Commission

Rohith Vemula’s suicide had triggered a huge political furore with the then HRD minister Smriti Irani coming under attack

Hyderabad: The Justice (retd) AK Roopanwal Commission has said that Hyderabad Central University (HCU) research scholar Rohith Vemula, who allegedly committed in January 2016, was a troubled individual and didn’t end his life over the varsity action.

The Commission was constituted by the HRD Ministry to look into the circumstances leading to the death of Rohith Vemula.

"His suicide note is on the record which shows that Rohith Vemula had his own problems and was not happy with worldly affairs," reported Times of India, quoting the report of Justice A K Roopanwal.

"He was frustrated for the reasons best known to him...He also wrote that he was all alone from childhood and was an unappreciated man. This also indicates his frustration. He did not blame anybody for his suicide," the report said.

After he committed suicide, Vemula's family members, friends besides political parties alleged that he was a victim of caste discrimination.

Vemula’s suicide had triggered a huge political furore with the then HRD minister Smriti Irani coming under attack along with labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya for having written a letter related to the matter.

In 2016, it was reported that the Justice Roopanwal Commission had stated that material on record did not establish that Vemula was a Dalit and attributed his suicide to personal reasons

The report also gave a clean chit to Union ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya besides absolving HCU authorities of any blame for Vemula's death

The Commission was learnt to have raised questions about Vemula's caste status as a Dalit saying that there is no proof that his mother V Radhika belonged to "Mala" community.