Several MPs from Kerala have sought the withdrawal of cases against students of the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, who had held a protest seeking the reconstitution of the committee against sexual harassment and the resignation of the vice-chancellor and the proctor.

The MPs have also sought action against those involved in an alleged instance of sexual assault on the campus of the central university in Hyderabad, which took place
hours after the student protest had been called off on October 18.

The parliamentarians have also alleged a systematic targeting of students from Kerala, who account for six of the 11 students against whom a case has been registered on the charges of unlawful assembly, promoting enmity between groups, provocation for rioting and common object.

Some 300-odd EFLU students had begun the protest on October 16 seeking the reconstitution of the committee for Sensitisation to, Prevention of, and Redressal for Sexual Harassment (Sparsh) and the resignation of vice-chancellor E. Suresh Kumar and proctor T. Samson.

However, just hours after the agitation was called off, a female student was allegedly assaulted sexually on the campus at 10pm on October 18 by two men wearing hoodies, at a location with poor lighting and not covered by security cameras.

A case was registered on October 19 and the woman student’s statement was recorded. The two attackers are yet to be identified.

Students have accused the university authorities of taking no action although they were informed soon after the sexual assault. Instead, the university authorities got a case registered against 11 students who had participated in the protest.

CPM Rajya Sabha member John Brittas has, in a letter to Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, asked him to have the cases against the 11 students withdrawn.

He has further alleged: “It has also been brought to my notice that there has been a systemic targeting of students from Kerala by the EFLU authorities, which is clear from the fact that out of the 11 students accused in the FIR, six hail from the state.”

Brittas’s party colleague in the Rajya Sabha, V. Sivadasan, has in a letter to National Commission for Women chairperson Rekha Sharma sought protection for students on the EFLU campus, underlining that the alleged sexual assault had happened hours after security staff manhandled the protesting students.

“I have been informed that during the incident of assault, the perpetrators had also mentioned the survivor’s participation in the same protest,” the letter said.

“It has been pointed out that the incident happened on the same night in which the university security personnel had rough-handled the students….”

Ernakulam Lok Sabha member Hibi Eden of the Congress has in a letter to Pradhan called for the immediate cessation of any “systematic targeting or discrimination against students from Kerala”.

E.T. Mohammed Basheer, Lok Sabha member from the Indian Union Muslim League, has written to Pradhan demanding the immediate withdrawal of the case against the students “considering their future and the need for a fair and transparent resolution”.

A similar demand has been made by his party colleague and Rajya Sabha member from Kerala, P.V. Abdul Wahab.