The gangrape of the 23-year-old woman in 2012 in Delhi was her own mistake, and not her rapists’, a Kendriya Vidyalaya teacher in Raipur has allegedly told her students, while warning them against wearing jeans, lipstick or “revealing clothes”, or going out at night with boys. The school’s principal on Monday said he would order an inquiry into the incident, The Times of India reported.

Girls in the class first wrote an anonymous complaint to the principal on Thursday, but the principal admitted it seemed outlandish to him and thought it was a prank. On Monday, angry parents of the students met the principal, who then promised action and informed the KV Sangathan, which runs the Kendriya Vidyalayas across the country.

“Girls expose their body only when they don’t have beautiful faces,” biology teacher Snehlata Shankhwar allegedly told students. “Girls have become so shameless – why did Nirbhaya go out so late at night with a boy who wasn’t her husband? It’s difficult to understand why an issue was made of this. Nirbhaya’s mother shouldn’t have allowed her to go out so late at night.”

In an audio clip recorded by students of Class 9 and 11, the teacher is purportedly heard saying that girls who are raped are “cursed and it is a punishment for them”. When boys see girls “doing it” with one person, they assume she would “do it” with others as well, Shankhwar is heard saying in the audio clip, according to The Times of India.

The girls in the class said it was embarrassing and uncomfortable for them to listen to this in a classroom with boys. Parents asked the principal to take action within 24 hours.

However, Shankhwar told ANI that she had seen some students from Class 11 outdoors at 8.30 pm and asked them to go home. “A student’s safety is in their own hands,” she added. “What happened with Nirbhaya was wrong but had she not gone out late she could have saved herself.”

The teacher claimed that she had told female students not to wear lipstick or jeans as it was against the Kendriya Vidyalaya Code of Conduct. “Parents should ensure that their children should at least wear the school uniform properly.”

KV Sangathan Assistant Commissioner Venkateshwarlu said that he has sought a detailed report from the principal and will comment only after reading the report.