Aluva: Rekha Nair, an Assistant Professor of the English Department at UC College, is suffering the agony of being tainted by the actions of someone else by the same name.
Her photograph was printed on page one of a Hindi daily twice in a Rs 3,500 crore-fraud story. The publication not only refused to print an apology after repeated requests but also returned her lawyer’s notice. Her picture was later flashed in a Malayalam news channel.
The teacher’s photo was first printed in the Bilaspur edition of the daily on March 16 in a news item about Chhattisgarh former DGP Mukesh Gupta’s stenographer, Kollam native Rekha Nair, amassing wealth illegally. Even IPS officers were involved in the case. The teacher’s picture from the college website was used in the daily.
A former UC College student doing research there saw the image and sent the clipping to the teacher. She neglected it since it was a Hindi daily. Though reprinted again on March 20, Nair chose to ignore the incident despite the humiliation.
But issue gained serious proportions when national news portals started displaying the story and picture simultaneously. During the Chhattisgarh police visit to Kollam, the photograph was flashed by a Malayalam news channel.
The teacher was forced to issue clarifications to many as a result. A complaint was registered at rural SP’s office but a case not registered. They suggested her lawyer to send a notice. A notice sent through a High Court lawyer to the editor of the Hindi daily was, however, returned.
The Rs 3500 crore scam that created an uproar in Chattisgarh pertained to the supply of poor-quality rize under PDS and large amouts of money embezzlement. The real accused Kollam native Rekha Nair used the money amassed through this medium to buy properties across the state and country. She also invested lakhs of rupees in a private bank in Kollam.
