Rohith's family rubbishes Telangana Police's claims that he was not Dalit

There is no end to the blame game over the suicide of Hyderabad University scholar Rohith Vemula. His friends and family have disputed claims of the Telangana police that he did not belong to any Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe. In a report the police said that he belongs to the Vaddera caste.

His family also says that the police report highlighting that students stopped cops from entering the university to recover his body is also false.

They also hit out at Union Minister Smriti Irani accusing her of creating the conditions which drove Rohith to his death. They have also demanded the constitution of a special investigation team to probe Rohith's death.

Rohith's mother today launched a no holds barred attack on HRD Minister Smriti Irani, accusing her of resorting to "blatant lies" while talking in Parliament about her son's suicide and that "life imprisonment" will not be enough for her and others "responsible" for his death.

Radhika Vemula, flanked by her other son Raja, said BJP will be "decimated to the ground" if Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not take any action against Irani and her ministerial colleague Bandaru Dattatreya who had written multiple letters to her seeking action against Rohith, alleging anti-national activities.

Speaking in Parliament, Irani had on Wednesday tried to deflect criticism and mounted a strident attack on the Opposition accusing it of "politicising" the PhD scholar's death.

She had said that the committee which acted against Rohith had a Dalit representative and that doctors were not allowed to revive him after he was found hanging.

Rohith's brother Raja dubbed Irani's comments as "blatant lies", saying he reached the campus by 8:30 PM and saw police and doctors where his body was kept.

"Even life imprisonment will not be enough for the ministers, Vice Chancellor and the ABVP activists who were responsible for my son's death.

Rohith's friend Prashant, who was also expelled by the Hyderabad University, cited minutes of the Executive Council meeting of Hyderabad University, claiming that action was taken against them "in response" to communication from the HRD Ministry to not allow the students to continue academic activities.

26-year-old Rohith was found hanging at a hostel room in the university on January 17, days after punitive action was taken against him and four other students for allegedly attacking an ABVP functionary. Students and Rohith's family have been alleging that Irani and Dattatreya had forced the university to take action against him and others.

The duty doctor at the University on Thursday contradicted Irani's claim that no doctor was allowed near the body to revive him.