Case registered against Jouhar Munavvir, teacher at Kerala's Farook Training College, for 'watermelon' remarks

The Kerala Police has registered a case against Jouhar Munavvir, an assistant professor at Farook Training College in Kerala for allegedly making sexist and derogatory remarks against female students.

Based on a complaint from a student of the college, a case was filed against Munavvir under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, police said.

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Munavvir had reportedly gone on leave after his comments created an outrage among the students. A clip of Munavvir's speech had gone viral, in which he could be heard saying, "I am a teacher of a college where 80 percent of the students are girls and of that, the majority are Muslims. These girls are not wearing dresses as per the religious tradition. They are not covering their chests with hijab. But showing part of it is like a slice of red watermelon being displayed," as reported by Deccan Chronicle.

Farook Training College. Image courtesy: farooktrainingcollege.org

His comments on the outfits of Muslim girl students drew a sharp reaction, as students took out a 'watermelon march' and demanded action against the professor.

Female students of Farook Training College took out protests to the main gate of the institution under the banner of Students Federation of India. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), RSS' student wing, smashed watermelons in front of the college.

CA Jawahar, principal of the college, had sought to distance the institution from the controversy created by the professor's comments. The principal had said that Munavvir made the statements during a speech delivered at a counselling session, and not within the college.

"The speech is from three months ago that the teacher made elsewhere and not on our campus. So, we have no responsibility in that. He regularly holds talks and motivational speeches for families on holidays. No student has raised a complaint against him, so we are not in a position to take any action against him," the principal had told The News Minute.

With inputs from PTI