Amala Convent Girls Higher Secondary School in Thakkalai, Kanyakumari district
Yet another incident has been reported at Amala Convent Girls Higher Secondary School in Thakkalai, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, where a Hindu student in Class 10 was told to hide her Tulasi mala at a Christian school.
The school principal, Helen Karuna, asked a Hindu student, Mithuna, daughter of Kannan, a daily-wage worker from Kollanvilai near Thuckalay, who was observing a religious fast for the Kulasekharapattinam Dasara festival, to hide or remove her sacred Tulasi mala. Complaints have been filed with the police, district collector and chief education officer. Hindu organisations staged a protest at the school, following which the police had to intervene.
तमिलनाडु में कक्षा 10 की हिन्दू छात्रा को ईसाई स्कूल में तुलसी माला छिपाने के लिए कहा गया!
कन्याकुमारी के थक्कलई में अमला कॉन्वेंट प्राइवेट गर्ल्स स्कूल में, प्रधानाध्यापिका हेलेन करुणा ने कुलशेखरपट्टिनम दशहरा उत्सव के लिए धार्मिक उपवास रख रही एक हिंदू छात्रा को अपनी तुलसी माला… pic.twitter.com/slp5AnQ7Cj
— Anant (@singh31919) October 21, 2026
On hearing about the incident, parents besieged the principal and questioned her behaviour. Some parents asked her whether it was right for her to wear a nun’s attire, as per Christian custom, and a chain with a Holy Cross hanging from it. If this was acceptable in a secular institution, they asked, the school should also allow Hindus to display their religious identities. Could she ask a Muslim girl not to wear a burqa or hijab?
The student was observing a vow for the Kulasekaranpattinam festival. For this, she was wearing a Tulasi mala and a sacred thread known as Kappu in Tamil on her right wrist. The principal allegedly directed her to hide the mala inside her dress so that others could not see it. She allegedly snapped the thread after calling the girl to her chamber, or told her to leave it at home. Parents said she knew the customs associated with these items but deliberately acted in this manner to cause distress and prevent other students from wearing them. They alleged that she wanted to Christianise education rather than work for a social cause.
The student said, “The principal insisted that these items were not permitted under school rules. I was scolded, assaulted and ordered to remove the religious accessories before I could enter the classroom.”
Thakkalai police personnel conducted a meeting with the parents and school management. Hindu Munnani district president Arumugam said the girl had lost her mother and had a younger sister. He alleged that the school management targeted children from single-parent families or those without parents who came from economically weaker backgrounds. “We have submitted a petition to the district collector and district chief education officer in this regard. We have urged them to initiate action against the principal,” he said.
Tamil Nadu BJP chief spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathi said in a post on X, “In Thoothukudi district, students who wore the traditional mala and kappu for the Kulasekarapattinam Mutharamman Dasara were ordered to remove them. At the government-aided Shanmuganadar Higher Secondary School in Athur (on October 12), the headmaster (Ranjit Singh) is alleged to have torn off the symbols himself and assaulted a student who refused.”
He said, “Now, in a connected case involving a Class 10 Hindu girl, the headmistress allegedly called the child aside, cut her kappu, and insisted she hide or discard the mala she had worn with devotion. These are not abstract ‘religious symbols’. For these children and their parents, the mala and kappu represent a ten-day personal discipline, plain food, floor sleeping, and a quiet promise made to the Goddess. Stripping them off in front of classmates is not discipline. It is public humiliation of a minor for practising a widely observed local tradition.”
The TN BJP said, “A school may regulate uniform and behaviour. It may not single out and physically or verbally coerce Hindu students for observing a festival that lakhs of families in the region follow every year. The same institutions that permit other faith symbols without question have no moral right to treat Hindu children’s observances as a problem to be erased. The affected children deserve immediate reassurance that they will face no further pressure. The adults who allegedly forced and assaulted them must face prompt departmental and legal action. An apology after protest is not enough when a student’s dignity has already been violated. Children’s faith should be treated with basic respect, not selective hostility. Those behind this atrocious behaviour should be brought to justice and face the deserved punishment.”
Another netizen said, “The Amala Convent school principal — a nun — allegedly ordered her to hide or remove the mala and assaulted her in Kanyakumari. The same principal wears a cross locket every day, yet lectures students on what they can or cannot wear. How is this equality? How is this secularism?”
She said, “Relatives and Hindu organisations have protested and confronted the management. This cannot be brushed aside. Religious freedom is for everyone — or it is for no one”.
According to Arumugam, the school authorities eventually acknowledged that a mistake had been made and apologised, assuring those present that such incidents would not happen again. He also said the police had assured them that the student would not face further problems.
