A school student in India was suspended after a teacher saw him hugging his classmate in school.
A 16-year-old student at St Thomas Central School in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram was suspended in July after he was reprimanded over a ‘long hug’ to his classmate. Now he is fighting to be allowed to take his Class 12 exams.
The principal of St Thomas Central School, Sebastian T Joseph was quoted by NDTV saying, "He was found hugging a girl for a long time in an isolated area, near a staircase in the school. If it was just a congratulatory hug, it would have finished in seconds. But this lasted long. And only when the teacher literally shouted at them did they let go of each other."
"Besides this, we also found that they had posted several pictures in very intimate positions on Instagram and this was being circulated by their friends, with hundreds of likes. This is unacceptable," he said.
The student and his friend have both been suspended. He is now fighting to be allowed to take his Class 12 exams.
"They called me all kinds of sexually explicit names, in front of my grandmother... treated me like a rapist, criminal despite me apologising. I want to write my boards," he told NDTV.
"The Instagram pictures were from my private account... And they circulated it."
The girl, who is in Class 11, says she was also suspended in July.
"I didn't have any objection to him hugging me after my performance. It was just for few seconds. And school says it was for five minutes. They abused me, slut shamed and used very harsh words against me and my family, questioning my upbringing. They harassed us," the 16-year-old told NDTV.
In August, the state child rights panel ordered the school to take the teens back.
However, the Kerala High Court cancelled that order in December, saying the school is the final authority in matters of discipline to "maintain and sustain the standard and reputation of the school".
The boy's father said, "His fundamental rights, including to right to education and expression, right to privacy -- all have been denied to him. This is wrong and they should have taken some reformative steps instead of such harsh steps."
The school authorities have said whether the boy will be allowed to take his exams will depend on the Central Board of Secondary Education, which manages schools across the country.
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