St Xavier’s University
Kolkata's St Xavier’s University teacher claims she was forced to resign over Instagram bikini photo
An ex-Assisstant Professor of the iconic St Xavier’s University in Kolkata has alleged that she was forced to quit and even asked to pay Rs. 99 crore in damages to the varsity for "causing immense and irreparable damage" after a parent complained that he found his son looking at her bikini-clad images on Instagram.
According to reports, the ex-professor is also an alumna of the institute.
Speaking to India Today TV, the professor alleged that the university administration summoned her and asked her to resign after a complaint was filed by the parents of an undergraduate student of the university.
They had found her instagram post to be 'objectional', she added.
In the letter sent by the parent to the university, he was quoted as saying by the media: "Recently, I was appalled to find my son looking at some pictures of Prof. where she had posed in a sexually explicit way, causing deliberate public exposure. To look at a teacher dressed in her undergarments uploading pictures on social media is utterly shameful for me as a parent, since I have tried to shield my son from this kind of gross indecency and objectification of the female body."
"It is obscene, vulgar and improper for an 18-year-old student to see his professor dressed in scanty clothes exhibiting her body on a public platform," read the letter.
According to the professor, she was made to face a committee with the registrar of the university and the vice chancellor, Fr Felix Raj. The professor alleged that at the meeting, the complaint letter was read out in front of her and she was forced to 'quit' her post, reports India Today.
She was forced to quit the post in October 2021.
"The said picture from Instagram was said to be 'bordering on obscenity' and 'sexually exploitary'. It was a story on the photo-sharing app and not a post. It was uploaded on June 13, 2021, way before the university gave me an offer. My profile is a private account. I wanted to know how my picture was accessed. I was told that there is a code of conduct and a dress code. I told them that it is restricted only to the university premises," she said.
On October 24, 2021, a day before stepping down, she also claimed that she lodged a police complaint stating that her private Instagram account may have been hacked which led to the leak of the images.
According to her, the complaint was not turned into an FIR. However, after writing to the Kolkata Police Commissioner, an FIR was registered against unknown persons, reports India Today.
The professor then sent a legal notice to the university, asking for a copy of the complaint from the guardian along with other documents relating to the October meeting in the first week of March.
The university responded through its advocate on March 28, stating that the legal notice was an ‘ill-motivated’, ‘desperate’ and ‘dishonest’ attempt to open a closed chapter along with the complaint filed against her.
The university also sought an 'unconditional apology' and compensation of Rs 99 crore for "causing immense and irreparable damage" to the university.
"What I seek is an apology for their wrong doing. Major big institutions, at times, get away with such kinds of behaviour with their employees. I will move the Calcutta High Court over it," she told India Today.
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