Kolkata professor 'forced' to quit over Instagram photo

The incident took place in October last year after the father of a student complained to the university

She got a PhD from a foreign university, and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Kolkata’s top institutions—yet, according to her, she was forced to resign from the post of an assistant professor by the management of a reputed private university over her Instagram posts.

The university accused her of indulging in improper social media behaviour, resting its claim on her "illegally" accessed private Instagram pictures.

The incident, as told to DH by the former assistant professor, dated to October 2021, when she was asked to meet the university’s top administrator. Instead, she got to see seven members, of which five were women, at the meeting.

She recounted that in the conference room, she was told that the father of a first-year undergraduate student had written to the university, complaining that he found his son looking at her photographs posted on Instagram, which were of an ‘objectionable’ nature.

Also Read | Kids in Bengaluru fall sick, elite school blames 'inadequate hand hygiene'

Such photographs, it was conveyed to her, could have a bad effect on young boys, and such behaviour by the teacher went against the values the university was expected to uphold.

The complainant further alleged that during her meeting, her personal photographs were printed and circulated in the room. She added that among those photographs considered “objectionable” were the ones that were in an Instagram ‘story’—which only has a 24-hour shelf life—uploaded in June, much before she joined the university as an assistant professor.

She said that as the account was private, only individuals who were “followers” of that account could access her posts, or her “Insta story”. According to her, “this left no room for her future students” who may have requested for “being approved as followers to come across those photographs”. “The only way in which such stories can be accessed by other parties is by hacking or if someone had screenshotted the pictures,” and circulated subsequently, she said.

The complainant also alleged that a day after being subjected to questioning, while she tendered a letter of apology, she was told by the top official that her removal had been unanimously recommended by the committee concerned.

She said she was offered two options: Either the university was to terminate the services, or a voluntary resignation was a possibility.

The allegation that she made was that she was compelled to resign, and that there was an illegal breach of her right to privacy.

In response to her resignation letter submitted in late October, the university wrote to her, refuting the allegations raised in her letter.

The aggrieved teacher then lodged a complaint with a local police station, and a FIR was registered in February 2022 with a different police station regarding the accessing of her personal photos by individual/s, with an intent to harm her.

DH tried to get the university’s version; at the time of publication, there was no response to the email sent to the university’s official email ID.

The complainant hasn't been named to keep her identity from becoming public knowledge.