An Indian professor made shocking statements in a recent interview where he was quoted saying women who wear jeans give birth to transgender and autistic children.
While appearance on an Indian channel, Rajith Kumar, a botany professor in Kerala, said, “A woman who dresses up like a man, what will be the character of the child she gives birth to? These children are called ‘transgenders’ or ‘napumsakam’. Hijra.”
The news report said Kumar had stressed that ‘good’ children were born to men and women who dressed and lived as men and women respectively.
“When a woman degrades her womanhood and a man degrades his manhood, the girl born to them is man-like. The child this girl later gives birth to will be a transgender,” he added.
Known for his sexist and homophobic statements, Kumar explained that ‘man-like’ girls were born when woman degrades her womanhood while man degrades his manhood.
Kumar bluntly claims that his views reflect ‘science and years of experience’. Reacting to his remarks, Indian minister KK Shylaja said, “Kumar has been consistently propagating superstitious and sexist ideas. We are mulling legal action against him for making such derogatory comments.”
It is not the first time that such statements emerged from the neighbouring country. Not very long ago, a Kozhikode professor had ridiculed female students in his college for revealing breasts like “slices of watermelon”. Another case had occurred when a Mumbai college principal said polycystic ovary syndrome (POS) happened to women that dressed like men. A nursing school in Kollam district directed its female students to lock doors while changing to prevent “lesbian sex”.