The Osmania University (OU) police have registered a fresh case against four students of English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) for allegedly harassing and humiliating a visually impaired faculty member on the campus.
Inspector of OU police P. Anjaneyulu said the students were booked following a complaint from assistant professor of the Department of English Literature Y. Suresh Babu.
Mr. Suresh Babu complained that the students prevented him from leaving the university’s administrative block after work on October 31. “He also said that the students’ actions amounted to a violation of human rights and the rights of persons with disabilities. We have registered cases 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,” said the official.
On top of the previous case
The OU police had already booked 11 students on October 19 for allegedly promoting enmity and inciting violence. That case was registered in connection with a students’ protest against the alleged sexual assault on a woman student on the campus.
A student from the campus said that three of the four students named in the fresh FIR were already booked on October 19. “The police had also sent show-cause notices to 10 students in the previous case,” said the student.
‘Plot to silence us’
One of the students named in the fresh FIR said the case against them was a targeted plot to silence them. “We had held a protest outside the Administrative Block and, upon noticing the professor trying to leave, we collectively decided to let him pass through. However, by the time we could do that, he had gone back inside; now we learnt that we have an FIR against us. About a hundred students had gathered there and only our names have been showing up in the complaints,” said the student.
The university has now restricted access to outsiders and limited the movement of students on the campus as well. “It has become very restrictive for us to move around after evening. However, we have been holding protests every day and have planned to boycott the extra classes scheduled on Saturdays. We demand action against the men involved in the sexual assault and the setting up of the Sensitisation, Prevention, and Redressal of Sexual Harassment (SPARSH) committee,” said another student.
The management, meanwhile, has increased the number of CCTV cameras on the campus and added floodlights as well.
