SHAHDOL: A video showing a woman Deputy Inspector General of Police in Madhya Pradesh offering advice to teenage school students on dos and don'ts for bearing "ojaswi" (bright) babies, including "not to conceive on full moon night", has gone viral.
Shahdol DIG Savita Sohane delivered the lecture to students from Classes 10 to 12 at a private school here on October 4 as part of the state government's awareness programme for the safety of the girl child. The video began circulating over the last couple of days.
"You will bring forth new childhood (new generation) on Earth. How are you going to go about it," the DIG, who is unmarried, is heard saying.
"For that, you need to plan. Note this first point: don't conceive on Purnima. Bow down before the Sun and do salutation by offering water to bring forth 'ojaswi' offspring," she said.
When contacted for comment, the DIG told PTI that she likes to read scriptures, listen to sermons of Hindu spiritual leaders, and give lectures.
The official said she was speaking at the "Mai Hoon Abhimanyu" programme aimed at creating a safe environment and promoting respect for the girl child.
"Every month, I deliver a lecture at a school. Before joining the police service 31 years ago, I was a lecturer at a government inter-college school in Sagar district for four years," Sohane added.
"What I spoke was based on the information I have come across in my pursuit for spiritual bliss," she said.
As to her advice about avoiding conception on a full moon night, she said it is considered a holy period in Hinduism.
The DIG said the object of her lecture, which went on for more than one hour, was to inculcate respect for the girl child amid horrendous crimes against women and girls, but only a part of it was circulated, and the context was missing.