KOLKATA - Angry parents surrounded a school in West Bengal Wednesday and threatened to shut it down after the headmistress forcibly gave eight students a hair cut, the police said.

The incident took place at Gopalnath Girls School of Durgapur town in Burdwan district, about 160 km from here.

‘We heard about 100 guardians of students had ‘gheraoed’ (surrounded) Gopalnath Girls School Wednesday morning for about three hours after a teacher cut some students’ hair,’ district police Superintendent R. Rajshekharan said.

‘They threatened to lock the school permanently and file an FIR (first information report) if the teacher did not apologise. The school was hurriedly closed down for the day,’ he said.

‘But no complaint has been lodged so far and the situation is under control now,’ Rajshekharan said.

Headmistress Manisha Roy admitted that she trimmed eight students’ hair Wednesday.

‘According to the school rules, students should tie their hair in two plaits. Despite my repeated warnings for the past one month, these girls used to keep their hair open. I had no options but to act strictly and cut their hair with my own hands to maintain discipline,’ Roy said.

However, guardians asked why the disciplinary step was taken without consulting them.

‘Who gave Roy the right to cut my girl’s hair without consulting me? If she was disobeying school discipline, then the headmistress should have complained to me first. This is autocracy and we demand her termination at once,’ said Sulekha Santra, a parent.

According to the police, the parents withdrew the agitation after the school authorities apologised to them.

‘But the school authorities made it clear that Roy won’t be terminated,’ an official said.