A metadata analysis by a cybersecurity expert of the circulars issued by English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) shows that the institution issued two backdated circulars.
“Metadata is data about the data. One of the documents, dated October 21, was in fact created on October 23 after midnight, at 12.11 a.m., by someone called Narasimha Rao,” said a digital forensic analyst reached out by this reporter. This circular extended the Dasara vacations, which were to end on October 23, till October 29.
Protests on campus
The EFLU has been rocked by protests by students demanding the constitution of Sensitisation, Prevention And Redressal of Sexual Harassment (SPARSH) committee. The protests started on October 16 when about 50-60 students demanded setting up of SPARSH committee. A circular showing the existence of an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), dated October 11, was shown to four protesting students at the administrative building around 9.30 p.m. on October 17. The protesting students dispersed at 10 p.m. on that day.
The students have been insisting that the circulars were backdated and the metadata analysis proves them to be correct. The meta-analysis of order ‘No. EFLU/Admn/F. 1697/2023/702’, constituting the Internal Complaints Committee, shows that it was created at 9.16 p.m. on October 17. The order, however, is dated 11-10-2023.
Molestation of student
Later, on the night of October 18, a student was allegedly sexually molested by two unidentified persons. The student protest began afresh at 5 a.m. on October 19, demanding the resignation of the vice-chancellor and the proctoral board for ‘insensitive handling’ of the issue.
“The proctor was laughing ... and called it a small incident, and the registrar kept asking about the identity of the survivor,” said one of the students who took part in the protest. On October 20, the police booked 11 students for unlawfully gathering outside proctor T. Samson’s residence on the EFLU campus.
No redress mechanism
The students’ demand for the SPARSH committee stemmed from the fact that they found no avenue to share their grievances. On October 25, seven students released screenshots of messages purportedly sent by two professors. The texts with time stamps detail grooming and sexting by two professors of the university. “In the absence of an institutional redressal mechanism, we were forced to share the screenshots with the media,” said a student who shared the images.
Incidentally, the university released a circular postponing the ‘EFLU Students Council’ elections citing Telangana Assembly elections. One of the demands of the initial protest was to have three elected students on the panel of the ICC.
When asked for his response on the backdated circular, EFLU vice-chancellor E. Suresh Kumar said things are in order. “We maintain an outbound register for all the communication within and outside the university. The clerks take care of it. There is no hanky-panky,” said Mr. Kumar.
