‘Nirbhaya Not Blameless in Rape’: Raipur Teacher Shocks Students

In the audio clip provided by students, she also says that girls shouldn’t be out late and wear lipstick or jeans.

Snehlata Shankhwar is a biology teacher at a Raipur Kendriya Vidyalaya.

(Photo: ANI)

A female teacher of Raipur’s Kendriya Vidyalaya has been accused of making offensive and sexist comments on rape to her female students.

In the biology lessons for classes IX and XI, which she turned into sermons on rape, she made inflammatory statements to her female students in the presence of male students, Times of India reported.

The female students secretly recorded audio clippings of her classes, where she is heard saying the gangrape was “Nirbhaya’s mistake and not the boys’” and “girls who face such incidents (rape) are cursed and it's a punishment for them.”

The parents of the female students reportedly met the principal Bhagwan Das Ahire, on Monday, 29 February to file a complaint against the teacher — Snehlata Shankhwar. The girls also furbished the audio clippings as proof of the sexist teaching.

In the clip, she is also heard justifying rape by saying girls shouldn’t be out late, wear lipstick or jeans, even going so far as to say that when a girl is outgoing, it is possible for boys to think she is “available or characterless”.

The girls reportedly told their parents about feeling insulted by the offensive statements.

Times of India quoted a parent Dhanuklal Sahu and saying, “My child and her classmates felt extremely insulted when the teacher kept asserting her opinion in front of boys.”

Earlier, the girls had also submitted an anonymous letter describing the situation.

Assistant Commissioner Venkateshwarlu sought a detailed report from the principal on the incident.

Responding to the allegations levelled against her, Shankhwar said:

Saw Class 11 students outside at 8:30 pm and suggested them to go home. A person’s safety is in their own hands. What happened with Nirbhaya was wrong but had she not gone out late she could have saved herself.

She further added, “I instruct girls according to KV code of conduct. Parents should ensure that their children should at least wear the school uniform properly. I have objected and pointed out at girl students for wearing lipstick at times.”