Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad: 2 Girls Evicted From College Hostel Allegedly After #Metoo Facebook Post; Students Allege Trampling Of Dissent

The news about the eviction of two female students from Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad on October 26 generated a furore of sorts among the legal community.Media reports claimed that the two girls, Apoorva YK, and Snigdha Jayakrishnan, both fourth-year BA LLB students, were castigated for having spoken out against Asst. Professor Srinivas Methuku on Facebook and accusing him of “constant ogling and causing discomfort.” However, the claim is just a part of the numerous conflicting reports and rumours that have since been doing the rounds, with the college administration asserting that their eviction was a result of separate disciplinary committee proceedings against the duo, unconnected with the sexual harassment allegations levelled by them. Here is an attempt at putting the dots together.The ICC complaint and the disciplinary proceedingsThe two girls had written a complaint letter on April 1 to the National Commission for Women and Child Development, Ministry of Human Resources Development, and the State Women’s Commission about institutional mismanagement of sexual harassment complaints. Contrary to news reports, the complaint against Prof. Srinivas Methuku was one among the four sexual harassment allegations mentioned in their letter.“A group of female students complained against Asst. Professor Srinivas Methuku of constant ogling and causing discomfort, Director M.I Baig allegedly passed a remark that his eyes are like that which is not his problem. At this point, no written complaint was taken against the accused and no procedures were followed. The accused had allegedly humiliated a female student by questioning her about her relationship with a boy in the campus and nothing was done about it,” the letter had said.The Ministry was then responded to by Dr. MS Shejul, the University Registrar, stating that Prof. Methuku had been reprimanded by the Director. The response had further stated that the other allegations mentioned in the complaint were simply misconstrued by the girls as sexual harassment or that action had already been taken on the complaints.The institution's Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) that did take up the matter later allegedly posed demeaning questions to the girls, while trivializing the allegations. Cut to October 9, Apoorva posted a screenshot of an anonymous Instagram story by a girl alleging harassment at the hands of Prof. Methuku. While students were then asked to submit their complaints for consideration by the ICC, Snigdha soon put up another Facebook post, alleging "procedural errors and callousness" on the part of the college authorities in dealing with sexual harassment allegations. Despite such shortcomings, eight students deposed before the ICC. However, as of October 26, Apoorva and Snigdha claim to not have been informed of the ICC decision or any progress made on it so far.Meanwhile, disciplinary committee action was initiated against the duo for violation of hostel rules-- complaints that they allegedly weren’t ever informed about or heard on. Speaking to LiveLaw, they said that the disciplinary committee did send them emails to appear before it, but as per their account, the committee curiously conducted its proceedings during the summer break, when the girls weren’t available at the college campus.While they repeatedly demanded that the proceedings be continued once they’re back from their vacations, the last email to them from this committee allegedly said that their absence in the next committee meeting would be construed as the acceptance of their guilt. [LiveLaw couldn’t verify the existence of this email as the students’ official college email id has been blocked by the administration.]“To this day we neither know what are the particular charges, if at all the committee came to conclusion about the matter we're never informed. Neither were we called to attend any proceedings in this semester nor served any warning, notice there of with regard to any disciplinary matter verbally or written or electronic media (sic),” the two girls now wrote in a Facebook post.They were soon served with a warning to take down the Facebook posts, or face consequences. Two days later, they were handed over eviction notices. However, they claim that no suspension or rustication letters were given them, and hence, they are still unaware of details of the disciplinary committee action taken against them.As regards the action taken against Prof. Methuku, while Dr. Pooja Malhan, Head of Student Affairs at SIU refused to disclose any details, Times of India quotes Vidya Yeravdekar, Principal Director of Symbiosis International University as saying that he was suspended on October 15 as an interim measure.Within the Hyderabad campus, however, the opinion has been divided. On one hand, allegations of moral policing came forth as well, with female students alleging that they were being reprimanded for their choice of clothes. A few other students claimed that they were coerced into...

Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad: 2 Girls Evicted From College Hostel Allegedly After #Metoo Facebook Post; Students Allege Trampling Of Dissent

Apoorva Mandhani

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