West Bengal Professor 'Weds' Student In Classroom; Probe Ordered After Video Goes Viral

A shocking video has surfaced online showing a young man getting married to a woman who appears much older than him. Reportedly, the video was recorded on January 14 and went viral recently.

According to reports, the video was captured at the Psychology Department of Haringhata Technology College in Nadia, about 150 km from Kolkata. The viral video shows the young man and the woman performing wedding rituals, such as applying sindoor in her hair parting, while other students present can be seen cheering with joy.

The woman seen in the video has been identified as Payal Banerjee, a former head of applied psychology at the university. While the young man is seen wearing a green sweatshirt with a garland, the professor is seen wearing a bridal outfit and garlands.

After the video went viral, the interim vice-chancellor Tapas Chakrabarty stated that a panel has been set up to probe the incident.

However, Professor Banerjee has responded to the viral video and told English daily TOI that whoever released the video did so with the intention to malign her image.

Further clarifying her position, she said that a cultural program was organized by first-year students, in which the "wedding" was part of a skit.

"They (the students) requested me to play the main character, and I agreed. Other faculty members knew about it and agreed to the programme; no one objected then. Students printed the card and planned the whole thing. My first-year students and I acted, following the script. This was nothing serious. I agreed only because the students requested me," she told TOI.

Apart from the video, reportedly a university letterhead with the signatures of the professor and the student, accepting each other as their spouse, has also gone viral. The letter also bears the signatures of three witnesses.