FIR against 11 EFLU Hyderabad students who held protest against sexual assault on campus
Two days after a student was sexually assaulted by two unidentified men at the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) in Hyderabad, the Osmania University (OU) police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against 11 students for holding a protest. The case was registered based on a complaint filed by EFLU’s Proctor T Samson, who claimed that the students instigated violence on the night of Thursday, October 19. A few hundred students had gathered on the intervening night of October 18-19 at 4:30 am to protest against the sexual assault which transpired on the night of October 18.
In his complaint, Samson stated that the 11 students provoked approximately 200 others and ‘successfully inflamed violence’ on the campus as the university administration did not yield to the ‘tactics of the accused’. Samson alleged the students assembled in front of his residence on campus with a “premeditated plan to harm him.” He also claimed that he “suffered from psychological trauma and stress as a result of acts of violence, coercion, and disruption of academic and administrative operations in this incident.”
The administration cancelled two days of classes after Thursday’s incident, which students, who did not want to be identified, said was an attempt to avoid responding to the students' protests calling for justice and accountability.
Students at EFLU initially began their protest demanding the reconstitution of SPARSH, which they alleged had been defunct since June 2020. Approximately 300 students from all political groups and non-political affiliations participated in the protest organised on October 16. The sexual assault took place on October 18, and a day later, students protested demanding the resignations of Vice-Chancellor (VC) Suresh Kumar and the Proctor. The students also sought justice for the sexual assault survivor. As the protests intensified, the administration called the police who clamped down on the protests. EFLU students who were present during the protest alleged that the V-C even downplayed the sexual assault before leaving the scene.
According to the FIR filed at the Osmania University (OU) police station – 'a group under the name – Muslim Students Federation (MSF)' wanted to conduct a programme in favour of Palestine at 7 pm on October 18 at the New Academic Block on the campus but were denied permission in view of the prohibition on non-academic activities. Samson said the organisers left the venue in disappointment and assembled at the Proctor’s residence, raising slogans to lay siege to his quarters. “It was clear that the programme on Palestine was conducted in order to arouse communal feeling and disharmony among the students,'' Samson stated in his complaint.
It is important to note that the MSF is the student wing of the Indian Union Muslim League dating back to pre-Independence India.
The Proctor then alleged that the next day, October 19, a group of students protested outside his university quarters seeking justice for the student who was assaulted. Surprisingly, the Proctor did not draw any direct connection between the cancelled pro-Palestine event and the protests the next day. He, however, insinuated a link and said, “On one hand, they wanted to conduct the non-academic programme on "Palestine" on 18.10.2023 at 7 pm and after a few hours on 19.10.2023 around 5 am, they came up with a demand that the Vice-Chancellor and the Proctor should resign. Because the University Administration including him, did not yield to their arm-twisting tactics, the above-mentioned students might have provoked around 200 students and succeeded in inciting violence on the University campus.”
While alleging that the protests were a coordinated attempt to damage the university's reputation and cause disruption in administrative activities, the Proctor was silent on the alleged sexual assault and made no further mention of the investigation around it.
“The students held a demonstration insulting officials of the University, including the Registrar, Deputy Proctors and the Vice Chancellor of the University alleging that a female student was assaulted on Thursday at around 9.40 pm by some unknown persons and that the University administration failed to provide the security to the students…,” the FIR read.
Samson further alleged that he was subjected to mental trauma by the students. “Between 5 am to 9.45 am on October 19, the group forcibly made me sit in a chair, preventing me from contacting superiors. Female students surrounded me to restrict movement. There was no access to water, restroom facilities, and repeatedly I was subjected to abusive and intimidating language,” he said in his complaint.
The FIR has been registered under sections of the Indian Penal Code, including sections 153 (provocation), 143 (unlawful assembly), 153a (promoting enmity between two groups) and 149 (unlawful assembly).
Students from EFLU also stated that Monday, October 22, was an optional holiday, and Tuesday, October 23, was the Dussehra holiday. “However, the administration declared holidays for October 20 and 22 in a late-night circular on Thursday night in response to the growing protests demanding the resignation of Vice-Chancellor Suresh Kumar and Proctor T Samson. This decision essentially shuts the administrative offices for five days from Friday to Tuesday,” said a student who did not want to be named. This, he added, could make it trickier for students to organise protests and would possibly help the administration avoid taking responsibility for their actions.