The on-duty medical examiner of the Hyderabad University on Thursday refuted the claim made by Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani that no doctor was allowed to examine the body of PhD scholar Rohith Vemula after he was found hanging in his hostel room. Speaking to NDTV, Chief Medical Officer Dr Rajashree said that on January 17, she had reached the room soon after Vemula was found hanging. “His body was cold, stiff and rigid [when I reached]. I knew he was dead, but I did my duty [and examined his body]. There was no pulse,” she said.

In an impassioned speech in Parliament on Wednesday, Irani said that nobody had allowed a doctor near Vemula after he was found. “No attempt was made to revive this child or take him to a doctor. Instead, his body was used as a political tool,” she had said, adding that the Telangana Police had made this claim.