A notice was issued by the National Institute of Technology Calicut in Kerala warning female students against spending time with male students on campus was rolled back on Wednesday after massive protests, reported Deccan Chronicle. Issued by the warden of the two women’s hostels on campus, it said that anybody found violating the rule would face “suspension and expulsion” from the residential facility.

The November 22 notice said, “Inmates of the Ladies Hostel and Mega Ladies Hostel are strictly instructed not to roam with boy students inside residential campus. We get lot of complaints in this regard.” However, students said the decree showed that the college administration was biased against women.

The agitating students took to social media and found support from many quarters , including Kozhikode district Collector Prasanth N. “Pathetic! Hope better sense prevails and that we won’t have to discipline those who enforce ‘discipline’ this way,” the Collector said on his Facebook page.

The Students Affairs Council said the notice was circulated after a “recent incident inside the residential campus following which a few members of the faculty complained that some students are disturbing the tranquility inside the campus”. The Council said the notice was taken down after they took up the issue of the unreasonable restriction with the chief warden and others in college administration.