A school in Kozhikode, Kerala allegedly locked up about 250 children in a conference hall for not paying fees.
Principal Abdul Rahman of Hilltop Public High School defended his action. He said: "Usually, when children don't pay the fees, the teachers call them individually and speak to them. Then the parents are called. In this case since there were so many children, in order to avoid disturbance to other students, we called all the students who didn't pay fees into the conference hall," r NDTV quoted him as saying.
The incident happened on Tuesday.
Recalling the ordeal, a student, Jamima Haider, said: "We were told by the principal that if we didn't get the fees tomorrow, he would keep us standing outside for all the seven periods. We did not even have a fan."
It was a tough time for the students given that the hall had just an asbestos ceiling. In fact, two students fainted after which they were taken to a hospital, NDTV added.
The principal was arrested by the police and was later released on bail.
The parents of the children met Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Wednesday and demanded action against the principal.
The children actually became a pawn in a fight between the parents and the school authorities.
An angry father was quoted as saying that they decided not pay the fee for the last semester since the school had informed them in December last year that it was on the verge of being shut down after failing to secure land to shift the school.
The police said they are investigating the matter.
