Police file case against Kerala professor over ‘watermelon’ jibe

Police in Kerala registered a case against the professor of a teachers’ training college in Kozhikode on Thursday, almost a week after his controversial speech comparing the chest of Muslim women students to sliced watermelons sparked widespread protest across the state.

Farook Training College’s Jouhar Munavvir T made the controversial remark while delivering a speech at a religious function in Koduvally of Kozhikkode district recently. The speech was later uploaded to social media drawing angry responses from students and activists.

Hundreds of students held marches at many places carrying sliced watermelons and some women activists posted their nude photos on social media.

“We have filed a non-bailable case against the teacher after a final year degree student of the same college filed a complaint. The case has been registered under IPC Sections 354 (A) and 509 (insulting the modesty of women and denigrate their status by words, gesture or act),” a senior police officer said.

A police team has also been constituted to track and arrest him, the officer added.

“I am a teacher of a college where 80% of students are girls and a majority of them are Muslims. Though they wear hijab they expose some part of their chest defeating the very purpose of wearing them. They expose, you know, like how we cut a slice of melon to see whether it is ripe or not,” Munavvir said adding parents and religious leaders should take note of this.

The social science professor said such trends were un-Islamic and against the very tenets of the religion.

“You should see how they wear hijab. They cover their heads with a scarf. They wear hijab in a way their chest is not covered. We all know a woman’s bosom is one of the body parts that attract man most. But our girls expose their chest giving an impression that the rest of their body is like the exposed part,” Munavvir said.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: MUNAVVIR T’S COMMENT SPARKED PROTESTS WITH STUDENTS HOLDING MARCHES AT MANY PLACES CARRYING SLICED WATERMELONS