University students of Hyderabad over sexual harassment allegations!

In February 2016, 60 students of Symbiosis Law School Hyderabad had filed a written complaint, accusing Assistant Professor Srinivas Methuku of sexual misconduct, “ogling at private parts and causing discomfort to women”. Subsequently, the college management told the students that an investigation was conducted and that Methuku had been “reprimanded”. They hoped the matter would end there. Only, it didn’t. Now, with the #MeToo movement taking the country by storm, the issue has been raked up once again. given the weight of the allegations against him, Srinivas should be stripped off all his powers, the students feel. While many of the students who signed the written complaint in 2016 wish to remain anonymous, two fourth year BA LLB students, Snigdha Jayakrishnan and Apoorva YK, have taken up the “fight for justice” on their behalf. “The first one to speak out about this was my close friend who said Srinivas ogles at her. At first, we didn’t take her all that seriously. But then multiple girls started saying the same thing. However, all of them were extremely scared to call him out. But they coughed up courage and gave a written complaint to the authorities. Sadly, nothing was done. For the past few weeks with women everywhere daring to say ‘Me too’ and ‘Time’s up’, on our campus too, girls started speaking about it, amongst themselves. The fact that no action was taken against the perpetrator clearly upset them. It was sad to see them so helpless. That is when Apoorva and I decided to take up their fight and give them a voice,” says Snigdha.