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| - Fact Check: No boyfriend, no entry? These college circulars are too filmy to be true
Posts going viral on social media claim that the SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, and St. John's College, Agra, have issued circulars making it mandatory for female students to have a boyfriend.
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India Today Fact Check
The circulars are fake. None of the two institutions have issued any such circular.
With just days to go before Valentine’s Week commences, two bizarre circulars apparently issued by SRM Institute of Science and Technology at Kattankulathur near Chennai and St. John’s College in Agra have gone viral on social media.
Both circulars talk about a new rule according to which it would now be mandatory for all female students to have a boyfriend. This step, as the viral circulars claim, is being taken for “security reasons”. The circulars also say that single girls won’t be allowed inside the campus, and in order to enter the college premises, girls will have to show a recent picture with their boyfriend.
While the circular issued in the name of SRM has the alleged signature and stamp of the registrar, the one issued in the name of St. John’s was apparently signed by one Professor Ashish Sharma the associate dean of academic affairs.
A Facebook user shared the purported SRM circular with the caption, “Pls forward this to Education Minister n Seal College Immediaty”.
The archived version of this post can be seen here.
Another Facebook user hared the circular apparently issued by St. John’s with the caption, “Notification.”
The archived version of this post can be seen here.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the circulars are morphed. Both SRM and St. John’s have called these notices fake.
While some users have doubted the authenticity of these notices, many believe them to be true and are posting comments like, “How can educational institutions issue such notices?” Both circulars are viral on Facebook.
There are several indicators that the circulars may not be genuine. Both letters have almost the same content, which is quite unlikely. We scanned the official websites and social media pages of both SRM and St. John’s
Clarification by SRM
We found that SRM had issued a clarification but did not find any such notice which makes it mandatory for female students to have a boyfriend on its website, calling the viral circular fake. As per the notice, the institute has also filed a complaint with police to ascertain the source of the message. The complete notice issued by the institution can be seen below.
We spoke to Dr S Ponnusamy, the registrar in-charge of SRM Institute of Science and Technology. “During the pandemic, we have sent several circulars to students under our official letterhead. Possibly, somebody has mischievously used one of those letterheads to create this fake circular. This is quite unfortunate and we
have lodged a police complaint,” he said.
No Prof Ashish Sharma at St. John’s
Agra’s St. John’s College has also called the letter fake and advised students to ignore it. The college has issued a clarification on its official Facebook page. The clarification has a notice signed by the principal, Professor SP Singh. The complete Facebook post can be seen below.
Speaking to India Today’s local correspondent Arvind Sharma, Professor Singh said that the viral letter is fake and bears the signature of a fictitious person named Professor Ashish Sharma. There is no faculty named Ashish Sharma in St. John’s College, Agra. Professor Singh’s complete version can be heard in this video.
Thus, it is clear that the circulars issued in the names SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, and St. John’s College, Agra, mandating female students to have a boyfriend are morphed.
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