Tiruchirappalli: Students of the Tamil Nadu National Law University (TNNLU) in Tiruchirappalli took strong exception to the “advice” given by the Vice Chancellor that sought to link women wearing shorts to “inviting sexual harassment,” prompting an overnight protest and demanding an apology from him.
A source at the TNNLU termed VC V Nagaraj’s remark as “fatherly advice and made in the interest of the institution’s reputation.”
While addressing the class representatives on April 15, Nagaraj purportedly remarked that girls wearing shorts invited “sexual harassment and created a distraction for other students and faculty.”
The remark sparked a row, and the students resorted to wearing shorts in protest on the campus on Thursday, April 16. The protesters held placards that read “blame the mindset, not clothes” and demanded a public apology from the VC.
Aiming to defuse the tension, a senior official described it as “fatherly advice.”
Later, Nagaraj addressed the students and said his statement was taken out of context.
“I was speaking about admissions, the reputation of our university and asked the students to promote it. I made the statement in this context… in my personal opinion, if you want to improve the institution’s reputation, then presentable dress may be one factor,” he said, declining to answer any questions about the remark that triggered controversy.
