A former assistant professor of English at St Xavier’s University, Kolkata, has allegedly been forced to quit her position over Instagram photos. She alleged that the university charged her with posting “objectionable” and “inappropriate” photos of herself on Instagram, as per a Livewire report. The university further said that her photos had “besmirched” the reputation of the institute.
The academic, who is an alumna of St Xavier’s College Kolkata, also alleged that the process by which she was forced to quit the institute amounts to sexual harassment and deliberate character assassination. She said that a piece of paper with thumbnails of her photos wearing a swimsuit was passed around among participants during a meeting with the V-C (and six others). The university refuted the allegations and claimed that she had resigned of her own accord.
According to a police complaint lodged by the academic, the V-C of the university told her that the father of a first-year student had sent a written complaint, wherein he said that he had found his son looking at her photos on Instagram and that these photos were “objectionable” and “bordered on nudity”. The academic told The Wire that she had shared such photos on her Instagram stories before joining SXU, and that there was no way that they could have been accessible at any time after 24 hours of being posted.
As the news broke on social media, people were unhappy with the alleged action of the university and called it regressive and misogynistic.
A student of St. Xavier’s Kolkata was recently caught looking at a pic of a Prof in her swimsuit (taken from her private IG). His father sent a letter to the uni condemning HER for his son’s leching. Prof was forced to resign in a strikingly humiliating manner.
2022… damn. pic.twitter.com/2RNLnXBd0p
— Sukhnidh ⚆ _ ⚆ (@skhndh) August 8, 2022
On the other hand, I was once called ‘a zero size wali’ by a male colleague, while I tried to find my way through a crowded room, infront of atleast 10 male colleagues and nobody batted an eye. Made a formal complaint, no use. The person still works there. No consequences at all— Rucha (@Ruchaacha) August 9, 2022
What the hell. This is unconstitutional.— Aparna (@chhuti_is) August 9, 2022
is there any way to mobilise against the wrongful termination of st xavier's kolkata prof because i haven't seen any protests against it— ana (@mightbeana) August 9, 2022
St Xavier's Kolkata is one of the best in the country and this is how they behaved with a woman because she dressed the way she wanted to (out of the university). One can only imagine the kind of education they would be supporting. https://t.co/lPtV7JLRf3— Nikita Sharma (@sharmanikita94) August 9, 2022
This is absolutely enraging. In an act of insane violation of digital privacy, consent, slut shaming, sexual harassment and institutional harassment – St. Xavier's Uni, Kolkata, fires a professor for posting "scantily clad" pictures in her own private Instagram account. https://t.co/HNzg9THvaW— Sukanya (@LelKanya) August 8, 2022
The university also claimed that the academic’s photos gave the “misleading impression as if it has the tacit support of SXUK” and thereby maligned its images. It vehemently denied allegations that she had been harassed during the meeting with the V-C, and also demanded Rs 99 crores for “causing damage” to the university’s image and goodwill.
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