MUMBAI, April 19: A lady professor of a Chembur college has been suspended for allegedly hitting the vice-principal with a slipper. The professor, however, in a complaint at the Chembur police station has said she did not strike with the slipper but only held it defensively in her hand when the vice principal moved towards her menacingly during a teachers' meeting on April 15.The suspended professor, Mishal R Shetty, of N G Acharaya & D K Marathe College of Arts, Science & Commerce in Chembur, is currently facing an internal inquiry. When contacted, the college principal, Anant D Mayee, only confirmed the professors' suspension, but refused to discuss the case saying it was an ``internal matter.''However, Vice Principal Jacob Varghese, who claims he fended off the chappal blows with his hand, spoke to Express Newsline. ``The lady (Shetty) is a little wild. It all happened during the meeting of Department of Economics on Wednesday. There was a small argument during the meeting over the issue ofassessment of SYBCom papers of her class; I questioned her why she had not accepted the assessment work and asked another teacher to record this fact in the minutes of the meeting. But Shetty did not want this to be recorded,'' he said and added that a heated debate followed and while the minutes were being recorded, Professor Shetty stood with the slipper in her hand and struck him. The college later lodged a non-cognisable complaint.Shetty, who has been teaching Economics for 13 years at Acharaya College, was not available for comment. However, in her cross complaint on Wednesday, she has said there was some misunderstanding on the assessment of SYBCom papers and when she protested the vice principal tried to shout her down. ``Suddenly Varghese threateningly moved towards me and so to protect myself I removed my slipper and only held it in my hand,'' she has claimed. She added that Varghese then caught hold of both her hands and as a result most of her glass bangles broke and her hands started bleeding.Shetty later took a tetanus injection from a nearby hospital.Duty Officer H G Surve of Chembur police informed that no one has been arrested anyone in the case. ``We feel like laughing. If teachers start fighting like this in the campus, can we really blame the students?'' he commented.Three months back, Acharaya College had reportedly charge-sheeted Prof Shetty on several counts.
