A former assistant professor at Xavier’s University, Kolkata who was allegedly sacked for posting pictures in a swimsuit on her personal Instagram account lives in fear even months after the incident. She is no longer on social media platforms and has been jobless for months. She also claims that the incident has taken a toll on her entire family. She is fighting a legal battle with the university which has filed a defamation case of Rs 99 crore against her.
The assistant professor was allegedly asked to quit her job after the father of a student complained that his son was looking at her ‘vulgar’ photographs.
The teacher claims that the pictures were uploaded as stories – a feature that makes photos disappear after 24 hours. She claims that she does not know how the images got leaked. “Someone must have taken a screenshot and circulated the images,” claims the teacher adding that she tried to explain this to university officials who did not believe her. She also claims that the images were uploaded before she joined the university as a professor. “They should have found out how the student got access to that photo, instead, they took steps against me,” the former professor said.
The administration should have found out how the student got access to my private photos, instead, they took steps against me, claims the former professor allegedly sacked for uploading pictures in swim suit.
She was sacked in October 2021, however, fearing for her wellbeing she is still not ready to disclose her name or location to the public. Speaking exclusively to News18 on condition of anonymity, the former assistant professor said that her pictures were uploaded before she joined the university. “I joined this University in August. I had uploaded photos in a swimsuit before joining university which is legally not wrong.”
After the complaint from parents, the university formed a committee and investigated the matter. “I was told to be present in front of a committee set up by the University. They showed me my photos, they had already taken print-outs of my photos without my permission. They asked me whether these were my pictures and if I was aware how these images could affect students?,” she recalled.
“They intimated me from October 7. I was not given any time to respond. On October 8th I had a one-on-one interaction with the VC. He threatened me that he will file an FIR against me. I had to put down my papers,” said the teacher.
“They did witch hunt. They did not give me the minutes of the meeting. They did not follow Vishakha guidelines. When I sent them a legal letter seeking clarifications. They asked for an unconditional apology and slapped a defamation case worth Rs 99 crore.”
“Which rule did I violate? Why did they not do social media evaluation before they hired me?”
The former assistant professor also claims that she does not have any idea who was the father-son duo who complained against her. The university authorities were constantly safeguarding them, she claimed. “In this University students are customers so they will safeguard them.”
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