Coimbatore, April 11 -- A Dalit girl studying in the eighth standard was allegedly subjected to caste discrimination as she was forbidden from entering her classroom to take the annual exam since she was menstruating.

The girl, belonging to the Arunthathiyar community (listed under Scheduled Caste), was made to sit on a staircase to appear for her examination at Swamy Chidbhavananda Matriculation Higher Secondary School in the Senguttaipalayam village of Coimbatore.

On Friday, Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said that the principal of the private school had been suspended after a departmental inquiry.

"A departmental inquiry was conducted against the private school. The school principal has been suspended. ...