Indian school suspends 4 teachers over dress code harassment of female students

A leading school in the southern Indian state of Kerala on Tuesday suspended four of its teachers for harassing girl students over dress code during a national-level medical entrance examination Sunday.

"We have suspended four teachers after a preliminary probe found them guilty of harassing female students during the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET). The suspension is in fact part of disciplinary action against the four teachers," an official of TISK English Medium School said.

Interestingly, the school principal, Jalaluddin K., Monday said: "We have clear instructions that if the metal detector beeps, no one can be allowed inside. Whenever it beeped, we told students to remove what they have."

The suspension came a day after authorities in the state initiated a probe into allegations that an 18-year-old student was forced to remove her bra at the school that acted as one of the various exam centres as part of stringent measures to stop cheating in NEET.

"My daughter went inside the centre only to return a few minutes later to hand over her bra. As she entered the centre, the metal detector at the gate beeped due to the metal strap of the bra. She was told to remove the innerwear for security, to prevent cheating," the student's mother said.

"Many others were forced to undergo the same ordeal," she added.

Kannur's District Collector M.M. Ali on Monday said that he would look into the allegations, while the State Human Rights Commission condemned the incident and also sought a report from the district authorities. Endit