Bikini controversy at Kolkata's St. Xavier's University

In August 2022 news broke that St. Xavier's University, located in Kolkata, had either fired one of their professors, or forced her to resign, over concerns pictures of her in a bikini damaged the University's reputation. The University is run by the Roman Catholic Church's Jesuit order.

In 2021 an 18-year-old student's father complained when he caught his son looking at the Professor's bikini pictures. Commentators expressed surprise over the University taking those complaints seriously. They pointed out that (1) the pictures were not in a public album, but rather in an album she shared with friends; (2) that the complainant's son was an adult, who didn't need parental protection; (3) that the images in question were quite tame, by today's standards; (4) the pictures predated her hiring by the University.

The Wire was the first source to report the story, on August 8, 2022.

Accounts differ as to whether she was fired, or was forced to resign. Chennai Memes reports that, not only was she terminated, but that the University demanded payment from her of Rs 99 crore - approximately $12.4 million USD, claiming damage to its reputation. Chennai Memes reported she has counter-sued for wrongful termination.

The Professor questioned how the complainant and the University were able to access her photos, asking whether her account had been hacked. She said she use a pair of photos of her, in a blue bikini, to illustrate an Instragram story. She said that, not only was the story only shared privately, it was the nature of instagram stories for them to expire, after 24 hours, so the image should not have been accessible to anyone, even those on her list of trusted associates, after that time.

The professor earned her undergraduate degree at St. Xavier. Her subsequent degrees, including her PhD, were earned at Universities in Europe.

The professor described being asked to meet with senior administrators of the University, who had been given copies of her private images. She said they disputed her assertion the images were private, and that their characterizations of her images was an instance of "slut-shaming".

The day after the meeting where she learned her images had been clandestinely acquired she tried to file a report of hacking with the local police. It was only after a letter to the Police Commissioner that the police started an investigation.

On August 10 and 12, 2022, students organized protest rallies in support of the fired professor.

On August 18, 2022, News 18 reported that Ratnaboli Ray, an award winning psychologist, posted her own bikini pictures, to support the professor. She called on celebrities who shared her belief that the professor had done nothing wrong, to join her, and post bikini pictures of their own. News 18 reported that celebrities who followed her example included: Payoshni Mitra, Anisha Pal, Bidipta Chakraborty and Rupsa Guha.