If you’re a university professor, showing up to work in a bikini would be unprofessional and breaking some sort of dress code.
But what if you wore a bikini on your own time and posted it to your private Instagram?
That’s the controversy facing one leading university in India after a teacher was forced to resign over her private bikini photos leaking.
She only worked at the leading university in Kolkata, India, for two months before she claimed she “was bullied, browbeaten, and subjected to moral policing.”
She was “led into an interrogation room” and questioned by a committee comprising Vice-Chancellor Felix Raj, Registrar Ashish Mitra, and five women.
There, she was informed that a complaint had been made against her by the father of a first-year undergrad male student.
“He said they were sexually explicit and requested the university to save his son from such vulgarity."
"I was shocked. When I saw the pictures I had a panic attack, it felt surreal that my personal photographs were being shared without my consent," she said.
In the photographs, which were taken in her room, she was wearing a bikini.
She claimed that the images were taken on June 13th, 2021, two months before she joined the university or had accepted any requests from students to follow her private account.
“I was asked if my parents were on Instagram and if they had seen those pictures? I felt nauseous and traumatised." She was asked to submit a written apology for the next day, which she did.
She was told that the board had unanimously voted in favor of her dismissal. “He said your photographs have gone viral, most students have seen them and they will not take you seriously and parents would complain. He said it would be better if I resigned voluntarily."
"I felt cornered - and I quit," she said. After the controversy went viral, the university denied that they asked her to quit.
A change.org petition was even started by former student, Gaurav Banerjee. It was addressed to the West Bengal state's education minister and asked that the university apologize to the teacher and discipline the committee.
The fight is not over, though, as the teacher has lodged a police complaint and sent a legal notice to the university. In response, they accused her of defamation and demanded compensation.
H/T: BBC
