Tamil Nadu School Isolates 13-Year-Old Girl for Menstruating, Sparks Outrage

In a small village called Senguttaipalayam near Pollachi in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, a 13-year-old girl faced something deeply unfair at her private school. She was in Class 8, and because she was on her period, the school made her write her annual exams sitting on the steps outside her classroom. This happened on April 7 and 9, 2025, when she was taking her science and social science exams.

Her mother, worried about her daughter’s comfort, had called the school on April 6 to ask for a separate desk inside the classroom. She wanted her daughter to feel safe and supported, especially since it was her first period. But instead of helping, the school told the girl to sit outside on the stairs. Imagine how lonely and embarrassed she must have felt, writing her exam there while her classmates were inside.

The girl’s mother visited the school on April 9 and saw her daughter on the steps again. Heartbroken, she recorded a video that later spread across social media, showing the girl explaining that the principal had instructed her to stay outside. In the video, the mother’s voice trembles as she asks why her daughter couldn’t sit in the classroom like everyone else.

The girl belongs to the Arunthathiyar community, a Dalit group, which makes this incident even more painful, as it echoes the kind of discrimination that leaders like Jyotiba Phule and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar fought against. People online were furious, and soon, the school education department and police stepped in to investigate.

After looking into it, they found that the mother had only asked for a small arrangement to help her daughter, not for her to be isolated. The school claimed it was following the mother’s wishes, but the mother said she was upset seeing her daughter without even a proper desk. The school’s headmistress has now been suspended under a rule that protects children from harassment, and the school is being asked to explain what happened.

This story hits hard because it reminds us that even today, old beliefs and unfair treatment can hurt young girls and marginalized communities. The girl’s courage and her mother’s love shine through, but it’s a wake-up call for all of us to keep pushing for a world where no one is left out in the cold—or on the stairs—just for being who they are.