FIR Against Goa Law Professor For ‘Outraging Religious Sentiments’

Panaji: An FIR has been lodged against an assistant professor of Panaji’s V M Salgaocar College of Law for allegedly outraging religious sentiments on her Facebook post.

The FIR was filed against Shilpa Surendra Pratap Singh on a complaint by Rashtriya Hindu Yuva Vahini’s Rajiv Jha, alleging that she had ‘outraged’ religious feelings in one of her Facebook posts, India Today reported.

“A case has been registered under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code and we have begun an investigation. She has been asked to explain her post,” Police Inspector Sudesh Naik was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times (HT).

Singh has denied any intention to hurt religious sentiments. “…it was taken totally out of context. It was never my intention to ridicule religion or women. Since my childhood, I have been curious on questions why we have exclusive marital status symbols for women and not for men in various cultures practices. It is depressing to see that a false opinion has been created about myself by my detractors – that I am an ‘anti-religion’ or a run-of-the-mill ‘god-hating atheist.’ This is far from the truth,” Singh said in a subsequent post.

“I wish to express my regret to my fellow women if any of my Facebook posts have caused them hurt and offended them,” she was quoted as saying by The Indian Express (TIE).

In her post on April 21, Singh had challenged patriarchy and compared ‘mangalsutra’ to a “chained dog”, TIE reported.

Meanwhile, Singh has also filed a complaint alleging that she had been receiving abusive and threatening messages after Jha’s [social media] abusive post on October 30.