Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur professor Seema Singh, who abused SC (Scheduled Caste) and ST (Scheduled Tribe) students while they attended her Preparatory English Course online class, has been suspended by the institute. The management has also ordered an internal inquiry against the professor.

A video, which was anonymously posted in the Facebook page 'IIT KGP confessions' by one of the students, showed Seema Singh hurling casteist abuses towards the SC/ST students and also calling them bloody ba*****s for not standing up during the National Anthem. "What I have to do, I will do. Nothing on earth can prevent me from doing that thing. Go to the Ministry of Woman and Child Development, go to the Ministry of SC/ST and Minorities, nothing will prevent me from doing what I have to do to you. Is it clear? Hello, bloody ba****ds, is it clear?" Seema Singh was heard saying in the video.

In another video, she said, "I will call you what you deserve to be called, better by your names. And you will get attendance only if your camera is on throughout the class. If not, go to hell. I will not listen to anybody, nobody on this planet can change my decision if I make it. Is it clear or not? Shameless creatures, you have to stand up for only two minutes for the national anthem, you cannot do it, and bloody ba****ds, this is on your parents, I am calling your parents that. Do you have any shame? When will you learn sense, you idiotic people? I give you one week time. You don’t know who I am right, I will tell you who I am." Following the incident, several students/people protested against Seema Singh, calling for her resignation.

A show-cause notice was issued on IIT Kharagpur by the National Commission for Scheduled Caste (NCSC) and they have sought a reply from the institute, the education ministry and the state government. The institute registrar was quoted as saying, "A complaint had been filed at IIT Kharagpur against the professor's behaviour. An inquiry committee was set up that after a preliminary probe found merit in the complaint. The professor has been suspended till further order. A full fledged probe will be carried out now."

Seema Singh later apologized for her behaviour through an e-mail. "I am writing this to express my sincerest apology for what happened last week. It was definitely not my intention to hurt anyone… It was never the slightest intention to be discriminatory towards any segment of the student community," she reportedly wrote.