Probe Launched After Menstruating Schoolgirls Allegedly Stopped From Planting Trees in India

There have been numerous cases where menstruating women have reportedly not been allowed to enter temples or perform rituals in India, with some even barred from entering the kitchen, with some sectors considering them "impure" at that time.

The Tribal Development Department (TDD) in India’s Maharashtra state ordered a probe on Wednesday after a schoolgirl alleged that a male teacher stopped her and other girls on their period from planting trees during a plantation drive.

The class 12 student at a state-run boarding school claimed the teacher had told her and others that the trees would not grow and would burn if the menstruating girls were to plant them.

According to media reports, the girl lives in a hostel of the Ashram secondary school for girls in Devgaon in Nashik district. The school has 500 female students.

A senior TDD official confirmed the complaint had been received.

The district’s additional commissioner, Sandeep Golait, told reporters that “Statements of all, including the students from the girl's class, teachers, the superintendent and the principal will be taken and an inquiry will be conducted.” TDD project officer Varsha Meena also met the girl at the school and heard about her complaint.

After the girl was reportedly stopped from planting the saplings, she approached Bhagwan Madhe, Nashik district secretary of the Shramjeevi Sanghatana organization of tribals, bonded laborers and other rural poor, to inform him about the incident.

Madhe then spoke to Golait and submitted a memorandum against the concerned teacher. He has claimed that the school has also made urine pregnancy tests compulsory for admission despite no such rule, with the cost of the test borne by the students.