A group of 15 miscreants reportedly beat up the principal of St Stephen’s School for allegedly not allowing 30 girls to attend classes as they had applied henna on their hands.

According to Dahod Town police officers, the incident took place around 9 am, when the girls entered the school premises with henna, which they had applied for the Gauri Vrat festival. Circle Inspector B J Bharwad said one of the miscreants stormed into the school and started beating up Principal Reverend Rayappan John. “The principal got some head and abdomen injuries. We are conducting an inquiry into the matter. None of the attackers were relatives or parents of the girls,” he added.

Reverend John told Newsline that around 15-20 persons with video cameras stepped inside the school’s premises and attacked him. “Our school has rules that children cannot wear nail polish, henna or any kind of make-up to school, which has been followed since 1932. When these girls came to the school with henna on their hands, two of my colleagues told them to remove it as they would not be able to write anything throughout the entire day if they sit with the henna. The act was pre-planned as the miscreants, as my colleagues said, asked the girls to cry. Later, they stormed inside the school and attacked me and my colleagues,” added Rev John, who has been teaching in the school past 20 years.

Later, the girls removed their henna and attended classes, sources said.