School principal chops off student’s pigtail; FIR filed

The principal of a convent school here allegedly chopped off a student’s small pigtail today, prompting the police to file an FIR against him.

Frank Fernandes, principal of St Jude’s High School in suburban Andheri, has been charged with hurting the religious sentiments of a community in the FIR filed by the police after a complaint from the mother of the student, Pravesh Dubey.

“We are gathering evidence against the principal before arresting him,” said S.R. Dhanedhar, Senior Inspector of Sakinaka police station.

According to police, the pigtail of the 14-year-old eighth class student was cut with a pair of scissors by Mr. Fernandes in his cabin. “The principal had asked Pravesh, a Brahmin, several times to get his pigtail cut as the school rules do not allow such things,” said Mr. Dhanedhar.

“When the boy went to his cabin for some work today, the principal seeing the pigtail got agitated. He took a pair of scissors and chopped it off,” he said.

Learning about the incident, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal activists protested near the police station demanding action against the principal. Subsequently, the principal was booked under sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or beliefs) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.