New Delhi: Raising questions on Rohith Vemula’s Dalit status, a commission constituted by HRD ministry after the Hyderabad university scholar’s death has said the material on record did not establish it and attributed his suicide to personal reasons. The commission is 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. The commission in its report noted that Vemula’s mother was not told the names of her biological parents by her foster family, according to the sources. HRD ministry officials have, however, maintained that ascertaining the caste status of Vemula was not part of the Terms of Reference of the Commission. It is learnt that the commission felt that Vemula have committed suicide because of his “personal frustrations”.

Source: Mint October 06, 2016 10:52 UTC