The students and faculty of the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) released separate letters calling for apprehending the two unidentified accused in sexual assault on a student and withdrawal of FIR filed against 11 students of the university.
“As teachers, we assure our colleagues, staff, and most importantly, our students, that we will work together to ensure accountability and restore institutional order. As the first step, we demand that the FIR against students be withdrawn immediately,” says the unsigned letter released on Monday evening.
On Tuesday morning, the students released a blow-by-blow account of the events in the campus: ‘FIR, Proctor’s Allegations and Fact Check’. The account challenges the information released by the varsity officials that says: “It is clear that the programme was arranged “to arouse communal feeling and to create disharmony among the students” by sharing “posters, pamphlets or handbills of objectionable nature.” Countering this, the students say that the alleged ‘background’ incident has no connection whatsoever with the protest that unfolded after the sexual assault on the student.
The faculty members however, promised to set right things in the campus. “Our collective focus as a community, including the university administration, at this sensitive moment should be on assuring the safety and well-being of the survivor, restoring confidence among our traumatised students, and on ensuring that justice is served,” says the letter.
“I have been sitting in my chambers since today afternoon, though it’s a holiday. The campus is peaceful and in order. I don’t know how someone can say that there is disturbance in the university just like that,” said EFLU Vice-Chancellor E. Suresh Kumar when asked for a comment about the letter from the faculty members. “The ICC of the university has conducted the inquiry and submitted the report already. The police have been investigating the matter,” he told this reporter.
