The Arunachal Pradesh police have filed a First Information Report against a school in Papum Pare district and some of its teachers following reports that they forced 88 girl students to strip as a form of punishment, PTI reported on Wednesday.

On November 23, two assistant teachers and a junior teacher reportedly forced the students of Class 6 and 7 of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya in Tani Happa (New Sagalee) village to undress in front of other students. They were allegedly punished because one of the students had written “something vulgar” about the head teacher and a girl.

The students approached the All Sagalee Students Union, who then filed a complaint with the local police on November 27. Papum Pare Superintendent of Police Tumme Amo on Wednesday confirmed that the case was filed, and said it has been forwarded to the women’s police station in Itanagar.

“The officer in-charge of the [women’s] police station said the victims and their parents along with the teachers will be interrogated before registering a case,” Tumme Amo said.

The All Papum Pare District Students Union had met the students and teachers on Wednesday and found that the “vulgar words” were written by one unidentified student. “The school authorities did not speak to the parents of the students before punishing them,” Union President Nabam Tado said.

The Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee condemned the incident. “Tempering with a child’s dignity is against the law as well as the Constitution,” it said in a statement.

Undressing a student is definitely not a corrective measure, the party added. “Imposing such punishment is total violation of child rights, and more likely it may accelerate the risk of child abuse.”