Who is Dr Sejal Pawar? Mumbai doctor who made 'obscene' comment on male cadavers at Pranit More show

What's comedy and what's not? The entire Indian nation has been debating over this one single statement for the past few weeks. For an art that gradually grew upon many, the rules and regulations surrounding stand-up comedy have just now entered the chat.Those who ignited the flame are three names that have been circulating online in videos and hashtags: Pranit More, Himanshu Jangra and Sejal Pawar. While More and Jangra are facing the burns of their comments currently, Pawar is now in the midst of open fire.

Who is Sejal Pawar?

Sejal Pawar is an undergraduate MBBS student associated with Seth GS Medical College and King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital in Mumbai. She went viral online after a clip of her statement from comedian Pranit More's stand-up show surfaced online.During an interaction with the comedian, Pawar spoke about the cadavers used in medical education. More asked Pawar if doctors remain serious or crack jokes while conducting autopsies.Pawar described the way the doctors cut up the body with the abdomen first, skull next and so on. However, she also added that she and her colleagues would often compare the sizes of male cadavers' private parts. "Whatever jo bhi, size vagera jo bhi," said Pawar.

Backlash against Sejal Pawar

Pawar's video went viral on social media, leading to massive backlash online. Body donation is often viewed as an act of generosity and as she herself said in the video, doctors and students are supposed to respect the body, even taking an oath for the same.Thus, people said that by making the crude joke, Pawar crossed an ethical line. One social media user identifying as a medical student wrote that mocking a cadaver was "one of the worst things you can do"

Sejal Pawar apologises

As criticism intensified, Pawar took to Instagram, where she had initially gained 2 lakh more followers, to issue an apology.

She said that the now-viral clip had been recorded about three months ago, when she attended the show. Moreover, she said that she had been "really very naïve" and did not anticipate that a brief segment from the interaction would be viewed in isolation and attract criticism."I am never going to justify this. I know it is my mistake," she said while adding, "Maine agar aapke sentiments hurt kiye toh, I am sorry (If I have hurt your sentiments, I am sorry)."

While typically, any such event on social media ends with the apology being accepted, Pawar's video was following a long line of successive offensive jokes made in the name of comedy and thus the ire continued.Soon, Mumbai's KEM Hospital launched an internal inquiry into the matter. Dr. Harish M. Patha said on Friday, “Yesterday, we received information that a video was being widely circulated on social media where one of our students was seen making objectionable comments about dead bodies.

This is highly unacceptable. We are highly sensitive about respecting the dead, especially when someone donates their body for medical education with a lot of emotions.

”The All India Medical Students’ Association also condemned what it described as the “insensitive, irresponsible, and disrespectful portrayal” of cadavers and body donors.In its statement, the association said, “Every cadaver represents a noble individual who made the selfless decision of body donation for the advancement of medical education and scientific learning.

It is because of these donors that generations of medical students are able to learn human anatomy and become doctors dedicated to saving countless lives. Such contributions deserve the highest degree of dignity, gratitude, and respect.

” The association also invited the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India to intervene and ensure that such insensitive content is not promoted or circulated on any platform in the future.While the inquiry goes on, as per reports, Pawar has been placed on a 15-day forced leave and barred from entering the hostel and college campus.

Another video goes viral

Amid the cadaver row, criticism against Pawar increased after an old video of her introducing her college as "We're famous for cutting dead bodies." When asked if she would date someone from her college, she denied saying, "No, they're very ugly." Moreover, when asked to name a red flag about her college, Pawar said the faculty there was "toxic."

Amidst the escalating controversy, Pawar has now deactivated her Instagram account. Users attempting to access her profile are met with the message: "Sorry, this page isn't available."The entire fiasco is happening at a time when More himself has been facing criticism for a recent show segment where an audience member identified as Himanshu Jangra made an offensive comment about a woman. During the interaction, Himanshu recalled spending Rs 370 on biryani during a date and suggested that the woman owed him physical intimacy in return. The anecdote received cheers and laughter from parts of the audience, as well as a monetary award from Pranit, sparking outrage online.

Following this, both More and Jangra also deactivated their social media accounts and are facing a probe.