Rohith Vemula’s mother sends condolence to Dattatreya on son’s death

Former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya, in deep shock over the death of his only 21 years old son Vaishnav, received an unusual condolence message that read, “I know the pain when someone lost their son (sic)”.

The sender was Radhika Vemula,  a Dalit activist whose son Rohith Vemula, a research scholar had committed suicide in Hyderabad Central University hostel on January 16, 2016 allegedly due to the caste discrimination and harassment.

Radhika in her message posted on the Facebook said, “My deepest condolences to Mr. Bandaru Dattatreya and his family from the bottom of my heart”.  In her broken English she wrote, “as I know the pain when someone lost their son, I hope you will fine. Sorry for you loss. Jai Bheem”.

Dattatreya’s son died following cardiac arrest at his home on Tuesday night.

Dattatreya, who was a Minister of State in the Modi Cabinet at the time of Rohith Vemula’s suicide, figured among the four accused in the case of driving him to suicide.