EFLU student sexual assault: Students accuse admin of derailing protests
Proctor of The English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), T Samson, had lodged complaints against a group of 11 students with the Osmania police. This was regarding students surrounding him in protest allegedly against the administration's decision to disallow a discussion on Palestine.
Though the students agree that they did protest in front of the proctor's house but refute the claim that the aforementioned protests were against the disallowing of Palestine discussion. "The administration tried to derail the whole protests against sexual assault by sharing a circular that the students were protesting in front of the proctor's house regarding an unrelated discussion that did not take place, but which was to be held, regarding the Palestinian cause. The proctor's house was not surrounded for this reason. The students were there to protest the inaction of the EFLU administration on the issue of sexual assault of a student," share students and alumni of EFLU, on the condition of anonymity.
Furthermore, the students and alumni go on to inform that one of the students, whose name is mentioned in the FIR wasn't even present at the aforementioned protest and to corroborate the same, they have flight tickets and video evidence. The student, however, was present during the protests on October 16, regarding having elected representatives on the Prevention and Redressal of Sexual Harassment (SPARSH) Committee.
During those protests, the student was summoned to the proctor's office as well, they went on to inform, along with other students, where they were shown a circular regarding the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the university. "This is how his name has somehow been added to this unrelated protest the next day. This goes to show how specific students are being targeted although there were over two hundred students who stood in protest that day in front of Samson's house," they say.
The students say that they intensified the protests in front of the proctor's house only when they found out that there was no immediate action being taken after the assault of the student.
The complaint also mentioned that a group of eleven students made Samson call a professor and an associate professor to the campus and only after their arrival did the protestors calm down. To this, the students say that they requested two female professors only to ensure that the CCTV footage is not tampered with. The students also claim that the proctor gave them the choice of selecting the professors they want to be present with the survivor during the CCTV footage check, informs a friend of the sexual assault survivor.
While addressing the students, Samson called the situation "a small issue", alleged students.
As far as the discussion Palestine: Perspectives of Literary Resistance and its disallowance goes, the students and alumni informed that the protests at the New Administrative Block in the early evening of October 18 were related to access to campus spaces for students. "While academic spaces should be open for political discussion we condemn the administration's malign intent to paint this issue in a communal angle and divert the issue which hinders the process of seeking justice for the survivor of sexual assault," they say.
