An assistant professor of St Xavier’s was compelled to leave the college over her swimsuit Instagram post being seen by a student. Earlier, the University authorities compelled her to resign and now also have filed a defamation suit of Rs 99 Crores for invariably disrupting the image of the University.
St Xavier’s University, Kolkata which had earlier expelled the assistant professor over her swimsuit posts on Instagram in October, last year. The University now also has slapped the teacher with a Rs 99 Crore as compensation for libel to the University.
The Whole Story
The incident came to light when the parent (father) of a student caught his 18-year-old son watching swim-suit pictures of his assistant professor. The father of the student then immediately issued a complaint to the university authorities reporting the same.
In his complaint to the university authorities he wrote, that it was “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”, according to a report by IANS.
When asked for an explanation by the college authorities about it, she said that in no way any student can access those pictures. She explained that her Instagram account was private and also the picture which is being talked about is at least 2 months before she joined the university.
She said that those two pictures of her in a blue swimsuit were taken in her room which she posted as an Instagram story in June 2021.
The accused (assistant professor), a 30-year-old teacher, argued that her Instagram profile could not be accessed by anyone, other than her followers. Adding on, she also apprehended that her social media account might have been hacked leading to the leaking of her personal pictures.
The next day, she also presented an apology letter to the authorities for “offending St. Xavier’s University by her social media posts”.
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Authorities in Action
The University authorities, however, refuted her arguments and instead gave two options to the teacher; either to resign or get terminated. She chose to resign and in the aftermath filed an FIR with the Kolkata Police, stating her Instagram account might have been hacked.
The Academic, file of FIR
The assistant professor, who has a Ph.D. from two European universities, filed an FIR against the authorities conducted with her in October. In her FIR, she alleged that the process by which she was allegedly forced to leave by authorities is something that amounts to sexual harassment and even her own character disrepute.
After the FIR, she sent a letter to the university authorities stating her lawyer was urging for a sample or copy of the complaint filed against her (allegedly by the father of the 18-year-old son).
University Authorities – Counter Action
In reply to this, the authorities thwacked her with a counter-legal notice that the notice sent by her was an ‘ill-motivated’, ‘desperate’ and ‘dishonest’ attempt to open something which had already become a closed chapter by then.
Consequently, leading to immense defamation of the educational institute’s image. For this, in the counter-legal notice, they also sought a damage compensation of Rs 99 Crore from the academic.
Netizens’ Reaction to the case
The above case saw a divided opinion by the netizens. While some claimed and judged the teacher on moral grounds, others resorted in support. Supporters alleged that One’s personal and professional life should be kept separate. The Authorities have no right to sneak peek into the private affairs of the employee.
