Students protest

Bengaluru professor shames girl over shorts, students up in arms

BENGALURU: An inappropriate remark by a professor at the prestigious National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, to a third-year student has touched off a virtual war. The incident took place on April 4. In solidarity with the student, and as a mark of protest, students wore shorts to the professor's class the next day.In a statement on social media on Wednesday, the students alleged that the professor shamed a female student for the clothes she wore to class. He allegedly cast aspersions on her character. The statement said the student, like many others, had worn shorts to class. "On noticing the shorts, the said professor chastised the student before the entire class by asking her to 'dress properly'. The student was uncomfortable with the remark, as were many of us, since we do not think it is correct for a teacher to impose his/her notions about appropriate clothing upon students. The student in question, who was scolded by the said professor, thought it necessary to further discuss the matter with him and not to overlook it as another instance of moral policing. Upon approaching the teacher and raising objections regarding his statement, the student, to our dismay, was once again rebuked by the professor and was exposed to a plethora of untoward comments," it said.On Thursday evening, students of the batch of 2018 posted on Facebook that their action was to highlight that students had faced ridicule and harassment from the professor for the way they chose to dress. "The vice-chancellor has taken cognisance of the matter, and it is our intention to press forward with our demand for an independent fact-finding committee to be set up to look into the incident. The professor has also made it clear that he is open to such an inquiry," they said.