BENGALURU:
Radhika
, the mother of dead Hyderabad Central University dalit PhD scholar
Rohith Vemula
, on Sunday said she still had no clue why her son — whose suicide united thousands of students against caste-based corruption in education — was suspended from college.
Speaking at a Karnataka Dalita Sangharsha Samiti event here, Radhika, while stating that the vice-chancellor of the university will be arrested for his “deeds” said that it still pains her heart that she could not even send his son off properly after his death.
“...The day he died, I did not even get enough time to spend with my son’s body. It was all done in a haste,” she said. “They had taken the body for post mortem in Osmania...Then he was taken to Guntur and before I could even come to terms with the news, everything was over. I still feel guilty for not having sent him off properly,” she added.
In a long speech describing her story, her children’s growth and the eventually suicide of Rohith, Radhika said: “...The university is a huge place. It was sad that I had to enter that place after he died. I hadn’t left Guntur until then despite my sons calling me to Hyderabad several times,” she said.
She added: “That day (the day Rohith took his life), I wanted to know why my son was suspended. The V-C never came to speak to me...But one day, a policeman and two faculty members including a lady came to my house and locked the door. Upon inquiry they informed that the V-C was visiting me in the next two minutes. I told them that I did not want to talk to the V-C.”
Stating that she has neither heard of Mother’s Day, which happened to be on Sunday, nor Women’s Day, Radhika said: “I never read papers or watched television. I focused on getting chores done.”
She also reiterated how she was offered Rs 8 lakh by the V-C in a press conference after Rohith’s death and how her daughter, who was present there had denied that and had sought justice.
“We did not take the money from them. He later sent the assistant registrar (adds, ‘I think’) who is also a dalit, and they tried to offer me more money. We told them that we did not want the money and we wanted our rights. But till today, I do not know why my son was suspended even though he was a good student. The V-C has not given me a reason even after four months,” she said.
She further said that recently, she was not even allowed inside the university, where she was to attend an event in memory of Rohith. “I miss my son,” she said.
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