EFLU sexual assault: Police detain protesting students; five students begin indefinite hunger strike

As an indefinite hunger strike ensues and protest rages inside the campus of The English Foreign Language University (EFLU), Hyderabad, today, Monday, November 6, Station House Officer (SHO) of Osmania University Police P Anjaneyulu told EdexLive that three to four students were detained along with National Students' Union of India leader, Venkat Balmoor. 

All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) and other student groups who showed their solidarity by raising slogans outside the campus were detained and released. "The protests took place without the permission of the police," he said. 

Whereas, EFLU students informed that students of Hyderabad Central University (HCU) and Osmania University were present at the protest and were detained as well.

Currently, five to six students of the university are on an indefinite hunger strike and another set of five protesting students are on a relay hunger strike, demanding an immediate response from the proctorial board regarding justice for a student who was sexually assaulted on their campus on October 20 and their safety on campus. 

The proctor of the university Professor T Samson and Registrar Professor K Narasimha Rao addressed the assemblage of students who were demanding accountability from the administration. While the discussions remained inconclusive, a few pain points that were brought up were the protection of the identity of the survivor.

The presence of the police in the vicinity of the campus was also questioned by the students who allege that this is an infringement of their right to express. The police in turn held the students responsible for not filing an FIR with the nearest police station.

One of the protesting students claimed that the university should be deemed responsible for such situations and called out the complacency demonstrated by the authority that, in turn, gave rise to such a situation, where the intervention of the police would have been unnecessary as such decisions can be taken only by the proctorial board.

Further information is awaited.