Suspended UoH scholar ends life 

Hyderabad: A 28-year-old research scholar of University of Hyderabad, who was one among the five suspended students, ended his life by hanging to a fan in his hostel room on Sunday.

Rohit Vemula (26) of Guntur along with his friends -- Dontha Prasanth, C Seshaiah, P Vijay and Sunkanna -- were suspended by the university about two weeks ago allegedly for their involvement in the clash between two student groups on the campus earlier.

The VC, in his orders issued in September 2015, prohibited the five students from entering the administrative building, not to move around with fellow students on the campus, not to participate in student elections and not to stay in their hostels.

In a state of depression, Rohit, a second-year PhD student in Sociology, committed suicide by hanging to a fan in his room in SRS hostel. His fellow students informed the police.

It may be mentioned here that members of the Ambedkar Students Association have been agitating over the suspension of these students since January 4. The Tribal Students' Federation (TSF) of Telangana on Sunday demanded lifting of the suspension of the dalit students.

Meanwhile, the students formed a Joint Action Committee for Social Justice and started hunger strike from Sunday demanding the revocation of the suspension of the students. At around 6 pm on Sunday, one of the students found Rohit hanging from a ceiling with a cloth in his hostel room.

Tension on the campus
Tension prevailed on the campus following the death of Rohit. Hundreds of students gathered and staged protests demanding action against the Vice Chancellor and Union ministers Bandaru Dattatreya and Smriti Irani.

The students vandalized the ambulance and did not allow the police to recover the body of Rohit. They demanded the police to book cases against the VC and the Union ministers under the SC/ST atrocities Act alleging them as responsible persons for death of the research scholar.

Call for bandh
The students unions have called for a bandh of educational institutions on Monday. They said the suspension of dalit students was undemocratic and demanded action against leaders of Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and Bharatiya Janata Party for filing false complaints with the police leading to the death of the research scholar.

Expressing his condolences for the death of Rohit, Prof Haragopal said the university administration, BJP leaders and students have to take the responsibility for killing the confidence of the student which led to his suicide.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) Telangana State Secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram said though the university fact-finding committee gave a clarification that clashes did not take place between the members of ABVP and ASA, the Union ministers have pressurized the Vice Chancellor to expel the students. He demanded the government to book cases against the responsible persons under the SC/ST Atrocities Act.

Vice Chancellor Prof P Appa Rao said: “I am deeply shocked with the incident. I appeal to the students to keep peace on the campus.” They were suspended on the basis of the recommendations of a sub-committee of the Executive Council and also on a proctorial committee enquiry. The committee was constituted after an ABVP activist was attacked on the campus.