Students demand justice for Rohith Vemula

The students staged a protest here on Wednesday highlighting 'privatisation' in education in Tamil Nadu and demanded the resignations of Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani and Minister of State for Labour Bandaru Dattatreya over the suicide by Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula.

The protesting students, who were later detained by the police, alleged that Vemula's suicide was a 'murder'.

"We are staging a protest regarding Rohith Vemula's murder and the murder of three medical students. It is murder. The government is saying it is a suicide attempt. The suicide has been done due to brahmanical forces," said one of the protestors.

The students also demanded answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa over the suicide by three medical students in Viluppuram.

"The medical students committed suicide as there is privatisation in education. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jayalalithaa's governments are responsible for this. They have to answer to the people of Tamil Nadu and the students," he said.

Vemula was found hanging in a hostel room at the Hyderabad Central University 10 days ago.

The students alleged that pressure from Irani and Dattatreya resulted in Vemula's suspension, which eventually was the cause of suicide.

In a separate incident, three medical student allegedly committed suicide by jumping into a well, blaming their college for charging them exorbitant fees.