Kerala School Teens Suspended For Long Hug

Two teenagers have been suspended indefinitely from their school for engaging in a ‘long hug’.

The incident happened at St Thomas Central School in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, after a western music concert. After a teenage girl performed on stage, her friend hugged her to congratulate her. The boy is in the 12th standard and insists that he just hugged his friend for around 3-5 seconds while there were other people around.

“I just hugged her for 3-5 seconds. A teacher walked past us, started shouting and took us to the Vice Principal. I was told to apologise and I did. But the teachers gave the friendly hug a sexual turn. They called my parents for the Board meeting next day. School’s secretary used sexual slurs in front of my parents while describing the situation. I was served a suspension letter 50 days after the incident. I want to write my exams and not lose a year,” he said.

The faculty of the school said that hugging isn’t part of Indian culture and it is their duty to reform children

The school’s principal said it isn’t acceptable for a girl and a boy to hug for a prolonged period. He said that the hug lasted around 5 minutes.

“It was longer than a congratulatory hug and was witnessed by teachers. During inquiry, it was found that he was guilty. His parents also didn’t co-operate and approached High Court. He had also posted some indecent pictures of both of them on Instagram,” said the faculty members.

The girl spoke about how she was slut-shamed.

"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," she said.

The parents of the children had appealed to the High Court which said that the school has its own say in matters of discipline and reputation. The boy's father has also quit his job to try and get things back on track for his child who was slated to give his board exams. The school is refusing to even acknowledge the girl as a student, saying she had attended classes for only 20 days and hadn't yet given her certificate of transfer from her earlier school.

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