Coimbatore: Due to the fact that she was menstruating, a Dalit girl in the eighth grade was reportedly exposed to caste prejudice when she was prohibited from attending her class to take the annual test.

The girl was forced to sit on a staircase in order to take her test at Swamy Chidbhavananda Matriculation Higher Secondary School in the Senguttaipalayam hamlet of Coimbatore. She is a member of the Arunthathiyar group, which is classified as a Scheduled Caste.

Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, the minister of education for Tamil Nadu, said on Friday that the private school’s principal had been suspended after a departmental investigation.

“The private school was the subject of a governmental investigation. The principal of the school has been placed on leave. It is unacceptable to oppress children in any way. Don’t sit by yourself, student! Here we are. Anbil Mahesh wrote on X, “We’ll be here.”

On April 9, when the girl went to school to take her yearly test, she was reportedly denied entry to the classroom and forced to wait on the steps outside.

When her mother and a family member went to the school and saw the child sitting her test on the stairway outside the classroom, the event became public knowledge.

They were horrified by what they saw and enquired about the care she had, but the student said nothing. The public was outraged when her relative captured the incident on camera.

“That’s what happens here,” was the response given by the instructors when the mother questioned them about the alleged prejudice. Enrol her in a different school if you’d like.

Chief Minister MK Stalin has been asked to act immediately by authorities at the education department.