The police in Bengaluru filed a suo moto case against a professor at the PES University in the city for allegedly calling a Muslim student a “terrorist” in the class, The Indian Express reported.
The video of the incident, which occurred on Tuesday, was recorded by another student and widely shared online. It led to protests by student groups.
The adjunct professor in the commerce department, Muralidhar Deshpande, allegedly made Islamophobic remarks about the student during the class attended by about 60 students, the newspaper reported.
It was unclear what had triggered the incident, but The News Minute reported that the professor started shouting after the student sought his permission to step out of the class.
The university suspended the professor on Friday pending an inquiry, The News Minute reported.
University Chancellor Jawahar Doreswamy told India Today that the institute is verifying the authenticity of the video and examining the circumstances surrounding the incident.
“We have CCTV in every classroom and we have told our technical team to look at this and authenticate the video,” Doreswamy was quoted as saying. “We have immediately placed the faculty member under suspension and the disciplinary committee of the management will look through the evidence.”
The Giri Nagar Police initially filed a non-cognisable report based on a complaint by the National Students’ Union of India, the students’ wing of the state’s ruling Congress. However, a suo moto case was registered against the professor on Saturday, The Indian Express reported.
The case was filed under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings and intentional insult to provoke a breach of peace.
The professor had also told the student that the “Iran war happened because of people like you” and “Trump will take you away”, the newspaper quoted the complaint as having alleged.
These comments could not be clearly heard in the video widely on social media because of the ambient noise.
The complaint also raised concerns about the alleged deletion of the security camera footage, alleging that the evidence could have been tampered with, The Indian Express reported. It was also alleged that several students who supported the Muslim student were suspended on disciplinary grounds.
The Karnataka unit of the Students Islamic Organisation of India condemned the incident, describing it as a case of Islamophobia in an academic institution, the newspaper reported.
You’ve read Scroll.
Now help sustain it
Scroll is funded by readers, not corporate owners. If you believe our work matters, support our newsroom. Become a member today!
We’re not driven by clicks or corporate interests – just honest, independent reporting. Keep us going. Support Scroll today!