Case Filed Against An IIT Kharagpur Professor For Alleged Casteist Slurs

Case against IIT Kharagpur professor for casteist slur: A case has been filed by the Kharagpur Police against a professor from IIT Kharagpur who was accused of abusing Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe students in two of her classes.

Seema Singh, who is an associate professor at the engineering college was caught on camera hurling derogatory remarks against Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe students. The video of the incident went viral. The video led to condemnation from the student bodies all across the country and stricture from the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST). After this, the IIT authorities are currently conducting a probe into her misbehaviour.

The NCST wrote an email to the state chief secretary seeking a report on the alleged misconduct by the professor. Following this, the Kharagpur Town Police Department registered a case (no 253/2021) under the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

According to NCST, Seema Singh had made derogatory and abusive remarks to the preparatory and 1st year UG graduate students, inclusive of the SC/ST students during online classes on April 16 and April 23.

It was mentioned in the police complaint that an inquiry by the IIT Kharagpur had confirmed the alleged derogatory remarks after a preliminary probe. According to the institution, Singh has been placed under suspension pending a full inquiry of the incident.

According to Rana Mukherjee, the ASP of Kharagpur, a case has been lodged against Singh and the inquires are being conducted.

The video of the IIT Kharagpur associate professor, verbally abusing students belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities, and students with physical disabilities in a preparatory class went viral at the end of April this year. Following this student bodies came forward demanding her termination for the alleged casteist slurs.

A few weeks ago, the IIT Kharagpur registrar, Tamal Nath said that the institute was reviewing the accuracy of the videos brought forward by the students. “The incident has come to our notice. We are reviewing the veracity of the claims. The institute does not tolerate such behaviour. Action will be taken,” he said.