MAKAUT prof: Spare students of mental trauma

Kolkata/Haringhata: The first-year applied psychology student at MAKAUT's Haringhata campus, who was seen "marrying" his dept head Payal Banerjee in a video, appeared for his first-semester examinations on Thursday. Banerjee, who is on leave, livestreamed a 6.27-minute video, appealing to people "not to read too much" into the psychodrama of "wedding" and spare the students seen in the "wedding drama" video from "mental trauma" early in their lives.Education minister Bratya Basu termed this as "inappropriate" and chose to blame the VC appointment cauldron for a lax administration leading to such incidents. Basu said, "The permanent VC's file has not yet been signed. It is worth considering under whose influence this has happened and whether the appointed caretaker VC has any role. The university has initiated a probe, and they will take further actions as per the report, but I would only say that until the CM's pick as VC arrive at all state varsities, such incidents are not surprising."The professor, who did not take calls from TOI, appealed to people "not to share the video and encourage incivility". Posting a video on social media, she said, "I have been an academic all my life, and a researcher. I am not worried about myself. I am taking legal steps against the person who has done this. I will also inform my authorities (during the hearing). This was a psychodrama. There was song and dance also. But someone chose to highlight only a part to defame me... I would appeal to everyone to spare the children the mental trauma. Their mental well-being is my priority..."Interim VC Tapas Chakraborty said, "I have spoken to the parents of the student and asked them to convince him to sit for the exam and he appeared for the exam today. Initially, he was depressed but we assured them that he won't feel uncomfortable on the campus."