Graphic Novel: The Tumultuous Last Six Months of Rohith Vemula’s Life

Nearly eight years after his alleged death by suicide, the Telangana Police has filed a closure report in the case.

Rohith’s last six months alive saw the research scholar go from a bright young man to a withdrawn, silent person. 

(Photo: Susnata Paul/The Quint)

(This story was first published on 16 January 2018. It has been reposted from The Quint’s archives as the Telangana Police filed a closure report in the Rohith Vemula case nearly eight years after his alleged death by suicide. In the report, the police have said that the University of Hyderabad student was not from the Scheduled Castes. The accused in the case, which included then university vice-chancellor Appa Rao and BJP leaders like then Secunderabad MP and Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya and MLC N Ramchender Rao, have been absolved of all charges. Late on 3 May, after media reports on the report's closure, the Telangana DGP said that a petition will be filed in the court to permit further investigation into the case. )

(Trigger Warning: Descriptions of suicide. If you feel suicidal or know someone in distress, please reach out to them with kindness. You can reach out to local emergency services, helplines, and mental health NGOs here.)

Rohith Vemula allegedly died by suicide inside hostel room 207 of the Hyderabad Central University on 17 January 2016.

The Quint‘s graphic novel takes a look at the last six months of the Dalit PhD scholar's life at the university.

(Graphic: Susnata Paul)

(Graphic: Susnata Paul)

(Graphic: Susnata Paul)

(Graphic: Susnata Paul)

(Graphic: Susnata Paul)

(Graphic: Susnata Paul)

(Graphic: Susnata Paul)

(Graphic: Susnata Paul)

(Graphic: Susnata Paul)

(Graphic: Susnata Paul)

(Graphic: Susnata Paul)

(Graphic: Susnata Paul)

Vemula’s life at Hyderabad Central University paints the picture of an optimistic, soft-spoken, and bright young man. But the last six months of the Dalit scholar’s life were tumultuous.

Vemula, along with Dontha Prashanth, Vijay Kumar, Seshaiah Chemudugunta, and Velupula Sunkanna, was suspended from the university on 8 September 2015. Following protests, their suspension was reduced to a more “lenient punishment” in the words of the university’s administration. They were banned from living in the hostel, using the college’s administration buildings and libraries, and from contesting student elections.

Adding to his troubles, Hyderabad Central University’s administration stopped paying Rohith Vemula his monthly stipend of Rs 28,000 in July 2015. The young man had used this stipend to spend Rs 8,000 on his personal expenses, and send Rs 20,000 to his mother.

Vemula had become silent and withdrawn in the last six months of his life at Hyderabad Central University, slowly losing hope and ultimately taking his own life on 17 January 2016.

His brother Raja recalls how Vemula, who had always said that education was the way to free oneself from the evils of caste, had told him to stop studying because it was futile.

“We were talking on the phone. He said I should stop studying. That there’s no use doing an MSc or a PhD, that we will never be able to escape our fate. We will always be oppressed. I wish I’d told my brother the same thing, because then he would still be alive today.“

Raja Vemula