Tamil Nadu girl on period forced to write exam outside class; principal suspended

In what could be termed as discrimination towards menstruating women in India, a Class 8 girl, who have just had her period this month, was made to sit outside her classroom during her exams. The incident happened in a higher secondary school in Senguttaipalayam village in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

The headmistress of the school has been suspended for the alleged discrimination towards the girl, top officials in the district school education department were quoted as saying by Indian Express. An investigation has also been launched to probe the matter.

According to the reports, the girl also happens to be a Dalit.

A purported video of the girl sitting on the classroom stairs has been shared widely on social media, sparking outrage as netizens called out the the for its discrimination towards menstruating girls and women.

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The video shows the girl seated alone on the staircase outside her classroom, surrounded by her school supplies and writing her exam, as a woman—reportedly her mother—approaches her.

The woman asks the girl who asked her to sit outside. She explains to her mother that she was asked to write her exam outside the classroom by the headmistress.

“The class teacher called me, then the principal made me sit here and write,” she said.

To this, the woman responds, “So, the principal asked you to sit here, is it? If someone attains puberty, they shouldn't write inside the room?”

The investigation

Initial investigations reveal that the girl's mother had requested separate arrangements for her daughter after she began her period. However, she was furious upon discovering her daughter made to sit outside the classroom without even a desk.

A police officer told IE, “While the school insists the decision was based on the mother’s preference, the mother was offended at seeing her daughter writing the exam without even a desk. We have issued a show-cause notice in parallel to the probe by the school education department.”