PM Modi pays teary tribute to Dalit scholar after suicide

An Indian student holds a placard during a silent protest after a student found was dead at a university hostel, in Mumbai on January 21, 2016. - AFP / Punit Paranjpe

New Delhi (AFP) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid an emotional tribute Friday to a young scholar from India's lowest Dalit caste who committed suicide last week, a death some have blamed on social discrimination.

Modi said India had "lost a son" when Rohith Vemula, a 26-year-old doctoral student, was found hanged Sunday after he was barred from some parts of Hyderabad University campus.