Hyderabad: Four students of English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) have been booked for allegedly harassing and humiliating a visually impaired faculty member on the campus.
The Osmania University (OU) police have registered a fresh case under sections 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC and Section 92(a) (atrocities against persons with disability) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act.
According to the FIR, professor of the Department of English Literature, Y Suresh Babu, 34, raised a complaint on November 1, stating that the students prevented him from leaving the University’s administrative block after work on October 31.
He also said that despite pleading with the students and a few security guards, Babu and his attendee Sai were not prevented from leaving, which accounted as a violation of human rights and the rights of persons with disabilities. The case is currently being investigated by the OU police.
EFLU students in the headlines
In another case, on October 19, the OU police had booked 11 students following a complaint by the varsity’s proctor who accused them of “promoting violence and enmity on the campus.”
The case was registered after the students staged a protest on the campus against the alleged sexual assault of a fellow female student on October 18, following demands for a sexual harassment committee on October 16.
Student sexual assault at EFLU
On October 16, about 300 students held a protest for over 24 hours, demanding the reconstitution of the university’s Sensitisation, Prevention and Redressal of Sexual Harassment (SPARSH) committee.
Students said that the previous SPARSH committee, which was constituted under an EFLU ordinance based on the Sexual Harassment of Women At Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act of 2013, had been defunct since June 2023.
Just a day after the protest, the incident of sexual assault took place on the night of October 18 at around 10 pm, which led to further protests against the administration by students the following night, October 19.
In response, the EFLU proctor filed a complaint against students with the Osmania University police where 11 students were named and booked.
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