Invigilators of a nursing entrance examination held on Saturday in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur cut the sleeves off women candidates’ dresses, an unidentified official told PTI. Male candidates who appeared for the Bihar Polytechnic Diploma Certificate Entrance Competitive Examination in Vaishali district on Sunday were asked to remove their shirts and T-shirts and enter the exam hall in their vests.

The incident took place at the GA Inter College Centre in Hajipur, Vaishali district, reported The Telegraph. This was allegedly done to prevent candidates from cheating in the exams. “If you want to go inside, first take off your shirt,” an official supervising the centre was heard telling a candidate.

Women candidates, who enrolled for the exam held by the Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Examination Board, were advised against wearing full-sleeved dresses, District Education Officer Lalan Prasad Singh told PTI. “The footage [on regional news channels] showed staff members of the examination centre at a public school cutting off the sleeves of candidates with scissors and blades,” Singh said.

He added that the intention of the move was not questionable, but the candidates were made to resize their sleeves in public view. Singh further said that the school where the exam was held had been blacklisted and the official who served as the exam superintendent had been debarred.

Vaishali District Magistrate Rajiv Raushan had issued letters to all centre superintendents on Saturday, asking them to adhere to the instructions of BCECEB. Candidates were advised to go to the examination centres in slippers, half-sleeves and t-shirts. Women were advised to go in short kurtis.

In 2016, a mass cheating row in the Class 12 exams was uncovered in Bihar.