Nirbhaya's rape her own mistake, don't wear lipstick and jeans, Raipur teacher warns girls; sparks outrage

The 16 December Delhi gangrape of the 23-year-old woman in 2012 'was her own mistake, and not of her rapists', a Kendriya Vidyalaya teacher from Raipur allegedly warned her students, say media reports.

Representational image. Reuters

According to The Times Of India, in an audio clip recorded by students of Class IX and XI of Kendriya Vidyalaya Raipur, their teacher Snehlata Shankhwar is heard allegedly telling the class that wearing jeans and lipstick "incites crimes like that of the Nirbhaya gangrape" and "girls like Nirbhaya who are outgoing are calling for it".

The teacher further said that, "Ladki dikha rahi hai matlab ladke samajhte hai ki wo chah rahi hai... iska chalchalan kharab hai (When a girl shows skin, boys assume that she is interested, that she is characterless)," India Today reported.

This sparked outrage among students, who wrote an anonymous letter calling it 'mental harassment' and made them uncomfortable, according to Times Now.

KV Sangathan authorities have sought a detailed report from the principal, who has ordered an inquiry into the matter, the report further added.

In her defence, Shankhwar told ANI that she had seen some students from Class 11 outdoors at 8:30 pm and had asked them to go home. "A student's safety is in their own hands," she added. "What happened with Nirbhaya was wrong but had she not gone out late she could have saved herself."

Jyoti Singh, a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern was raped and brutally sexually assaulted by six people, including a minor, in a moving bus in 2012. The accused then threw the woman and her male companion out of the vehicle by the roadside.

With inputs from PTI