Rohith’s mother has raised questions about why no one asked about rape victim Nirbhaya’s caste. Her statement comes in the wake of Rohith Vemula’s father talking to the media, and raising questions about Rohith’s Dalit status.
In a media statement issued on Saturday afternoon, Radhika V has reiterated that all of her three children were brought up as Dalits in a colony of Scheduled Castes.
Her remarks came in the wake of her former husband’s interviews to the Telugu media, that he did not know how their children were Dalits since he was of the Vaddera caste and that she too belonged to a Vaddera family. The Vaddera caste is not a Scheduled Caste.
In response to his statements, Radhika issued a press release, saying that she had been born into a Mala family, but was left with a Vaddera family by her parents. She said since she was “informally adopted” by the Vaddera family, they got her married into a Vaddera family.
She added that she separated from her husband in 1990, after the birth of their last child and obtained a divorce. After that, she said that she lived in a Scheduled Caste colony where Mala families lived.
Radhika Vemula, Rohith’s MotherI have followed all the traditions and customs of SC community as I originally belong to Mala community.
Speaking to the media at the university later, she said that she wanted to know why her son Rohith had died.
Radhika Vemula, Rohith’s MotherI want to know the reason of my son’s death. I want strict punishment for the culprits.
(The writer, Anusha Puppala works with The News Minute.)
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