Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, the ex-officio Chancellor of all the Universities in the State, has ordered a high-level inquiry into the reported sex-for-marks offer made by a woman Maths professor to four poor girl students.

Nirmala Devi, who works as a maths professor with a leading engineering college in Virudhunagar, reportedly made the ‘sex-for-marks’ offer to four chosen poor girl students with whom she interacted on ‘Whatsapp’.  The ‘offers’ the students were promised for sexual favours to top level management faculty at Madurai Kamaraj University (to which the college was affiliated) included 85% marks, plenty of cash, etc.

The students promptly complained to the college administration which forwarded their complaint to the local police when was at Nirmala Devi’s Aruppukkottai residence as early as at 07:00 in the morning yesterday.  Nirmala Devi, who had locked the house from inside out of sheer humiliation to come out and face others, delayed her arrest by 7 hours after which the policemen had to break open the front door in the presence of her husband and brother to take her into custody.

A Raj Bhawan communiqué said that Governor Purohit has ordered a high-level inquiry after getting a report from Madurai Kamaraj University.  “No guilty can escape the law,” the communiqué said while adding that the inquiry would be done by retired IAS officer R. Santhanam, a CAT member and a former chief-secretary level officer.