Four Dalit research scholars of the University of Hyderabad who were suspended along with Rohit Vemula wrote to President Pranab Mukherjee seeking removal of Vice-Chancellor Podile Appa Rao. On this occasion, the students burnt an effigy of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Vice-Chancellor as a part of their protest.
On January 17, 2016, Rohit Vemla, a Ph. D scholar of UoH committed suicide as the university suspended him. The students who were suspended along with Rohit Vemula claimed that since then no action had been taken against the Vice-Chancellor.
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In a letter to President, they stated that it had been eleven months since Rohit committed suicide and yet justice had not been delivered. They indicated that the law enforcement agencies failed to deliver justice. Hence, they are seeking justice not only for them but also for Rohit Vemula and his family.
They revealed that even after the death of Rohit Vemula, various atrocities continued on the campus. Recently, two students committed suicide as they were unable to bear the atrocities. Sadly, one among them, Nelli Praveen died and the other Moses Abraham survived.
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They further added that even though HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar stated 12 points to prevent suicides on the campus, no further mechanism has been carried out to prevent the suicides. They criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister of Telangana Chandra Sekhar Rao for not taking action against the police who allegedly done lathi charge on the students.