Why has Aligarh Muslim University professor’s lecture on ‘rape’ caused a furore?

The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) suspended a faculty member at its medical school for “hurting religious sentiments”. The professor allegedly talked about examples of “rape” in Hindu mythology during a forensic science class. Dr Jitendra Kumar, an assistant professor at AMU’s Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, made references to “rape” in mythology while conducting a class on medical jurisprudence, according to officials. He has been issued a show-cause notice with a 24-hour deadline, asking him to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against him.

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What was the lecture about? The professor was allegedly teaching about rape in India and its reference in history and mythology. He had prepared slides and one of them spoke about Brahma raping his daughter, Indra’s impersonation of Rishi Gautam, and the rape of his wife, tulsi vivah: Lord Vishu raping the wife of King Jalandhar, according to a report on News18.com. The lecture also mentioned the 2012 Delhi gang rape and the Mathura rape case. How did AMU react? The lecture reportedly did not go down well with students with many taking to social media to slam it. The video of the lecture was also posted online. The uproar led to AMU authorities stepping in and releasing an official statement “strongly condemning” the contents of the controversial slide. “The AMU administration and faculty today strongly condemned the content of a slide on the mythical reference of rape and issued a show-cause notice to Dr Jitendra Kumar for hurting the religious sentiments of the students, staff and citizens. He has been asked to submit his reply in 24 hours,” it said. The university has also set up a two-member probe committee to look into the matter, an official told news agency PTI. What did the professor say? The professor has apologised after receiving the notice. In a letter to AMU vice-chancellor Tariq Mansoor on Wednesday, the professor said, “My intention was not to hurt religious sentiments of any particular religion and it was done only to highlight that rape has been a part of our society since long." He added that it was “an inadvertent mistake”, assuring “no such incident will occur in the future”. How did the police get involved? Dr Kumar has also been booked by the police. A case has been registered at Civil Lines police station in connection with the “inflammatory content” of his presentation during the class on Tuesday, reports The Indian Express. In a statement, Circle Officer Shwetabh Pandey said, “It came to our knowledge that Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College assistant professor Dr Jitendra Kumar had used a PowerPoint presentation with objectionable language hurting religious sentiments. Based on a complaint from Dr Nishesh Sharma, an FIR has been lodged against him under several IPC sections.” With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.