UoH sexual assault case: Students say they will keep watch on administration to ensure fair trials

"All the student unions at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) came together today (December 3) to protest against it," says Kiran Kumar, President of AIOBCSA (All India Other Backward Classes Students Association), referring to the sexual assault incident, which shook the varsity last night (December 2). The protests have been called off now as the varsity suspended the accused.

It has been alleged that a 23-year-old student from Thailand was molested by a Professor of Hindi (identified as Dr Ravi Ranjan), who took her home on the pretext of teaching her the basics of the language at about 8 pm. The victim then filed a complaint at the city's Gachibowli police station. The professor was arrested by the police later in the night.

"For four to five hours last night, we urged the administration to take action on the matter, put protocols in place so that such incidents are not repeated in the future, but the authorities delayed it," said Shiva Durga Rao, Secretary, SFI (Students' Federation of India) unit of UoH. "This is an educational institution and such acts will not be tolerated here," stated Namrata Singh, a member of ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) UoH.

The students called a protest at about 10 am in the morning, which continued till about 2 pm. And Namrata added that all of them were very angry over the issue, as it was not "a matter of little consequence".

Siva earlier alleged that it was 14 hours since the incident occurred but the administration had not responded and also hadn't issued an official statement. However, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of UoH, Professor RS Sarraju, addressed the agitating students at about 1.30 pm today, December 3. He stated that the accused faculty would be suspended and the university will file an FIR against him and soon after, an official statement on the same lines was released by the varsity.

The students, who had been demanding the professor's suspension with their protests, called it off after the release of the statement. "But we will be keeping an eye on the administration and the proceedings being undertaken in the matter," said Rachana Reddy, a member of NSUI (National Students' Union of India) at UoH. "We are also demanding that the enquiry be conducted in a fair and transparent manner," added Shiva.

The victim student is still shaken, informs Namrata. Rachana said that a translator is being arranged for the victim to record her statement, since "she does not speak any of our languages". "We also asked the university to provide all kinds of support to her," Kiran Kumar added.