Like its relatives, it belongs to the subfamily Geoemydinae of the family Geoemydidae, formerly known as Bataguridae. It was once placed in the genus "Geoemyda" and subsequently moved to "Heosemys". But as it seems, the Cochin forest cane turtle forms a quite distinct lineage closely related to "Melanochelys". Thus, nowadays it is recognized as a monotypic genus, named Vijayachelys in honor of the famous Indian herpetologist Jagannathan Vijaya (1959–1987) who rediscovered this species in 1982 and until her death extensively studied it. A diagnosis of the osteology of "Vijayachelys" was published in 2006.