Casteist remarks against research scholar: TVM court grants bail to Dr CN Vijayakumari
She alleged that members of the SFI disrupted the defence, forcing it to end abruptly.
She alleged that members of the SFI disrupted the defence, forcing it to end abruptly.
She alleged that members of the SFI disrupted the defence, forcing it to end abruptly.
The Special SC/ST (PoA) Act Court in Nedumangad on Monday granted bail to Dr C N Vijayakumari, Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies and Head of the Sanskrit Department at Kerala University, who has been accused of making casteist remarks against a research scholar.
The case was registered by the Sreekaryam police on a complaint filed by Vipin Vijayan, a research scholar, who alleged that Vijayakumari insulted him by referring to his caste name. According to the FIR lodged on November 8, Vijayakumari allegedly refused to sign Vipin’s PhD thesis after his open defence on October 15. When he approached her again seeking the required signature for completing his PhD process, she allegedly made caste-based remarks in front of other teachers and students.
Vipin also claimed that such comments had been directed at him repeatedly since 2015, when he joined the MPhil programme under her supervision at the Kariavattom campus. The FIR states that Vijayakumari allegedly told him that “people from lower castes cannot learn Sanskrit” and that she would “clean her room with water after they entered.”
The professor has been booked under Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which deal with publicly insulting or humiliating a member of an SC/ST community.
Meanwhile, in her bail application, Vijayakumari contended that Vipin, an influential SFI student leader, attempted to misuse his influence and threatened her to secure approval for his PhD. She argued that although he was pursuing a doctorate in Sanskrit, he submitted his thesis in English, and when questioned on basic Sanskrit-related aspects during the open defence on October 5, he was unable to answer. The bail application was filed by Sekhar G Thampi, Vijayakumari's counsel.
In the petition, she also alleged that members of the SFI disrupted the defence, forcing it to end abruptly. Vijayakumari stated that she subsequently submitted a detailed report to the Vice Chancellor, and that the present complaint was filed only after Vipin learned about the report, allegedly using caste identity as leverage.
Vijayakumari currently holds multiple academic positions at Kerala University, including Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Head of the Department of Sanskrit, Chairman of the Doctoral Committee (Sanskrit), Honorary Director of the Centre for Vedanta Studies, and Member of both the Academic Council and Senate.