Minor Hindu student denied school entry for wearing religious attire and mala in Andhra Pradesh

Case ID : 45f4f20 | Location : Chipurupalle, Andhra Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Wed, 19 November, 2025

Case ID : 45f4f20

Chipurupalle, Andhra Pradesh, India

19 November, 2025

Minor Hindu student denied school entry for wearing religious attire and mala in Andhra Pradesh

Undecided cases

Case Summary

In Cheepurupalli, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, a minor Hindu student who wore a devotional mala and saffron religious attire during the Karthika month, a sacred month in the Hindu calendar, was denied school entry by the staff of Smt Godavari Devi Saraf Senior Secondary School. As per reports, after visiting a temple, the Hindu boy reached his private school in Darvidi mandal, Cheepurupalli constituency of Vizianagaram district, a few minutes late. When he attempted to enter, the staff stopped him at the gate, stating that the school management had instructed them not to allow students wearing religious attire and mala inside. The student informed his parents about being denied entry, and they questioned why a child was prevented from attending school because of a devotional practice. Many local people also expressed displeasure, stating that such treatment was hurtful to their religious sentiments. A video recorded at the scene showed the student asking for entry and school staff refusing, repeating that they were acting on the principal’s instructions. People present at the location questioned the basis for stopping the boy and whether wearing a mala and religious attire affected his right to attend school. Despite previous official instructions to schools to permit such students, this school’s staff continued enforcing the restriction, which drew criticism from local community members and representatives of local Hindu organisations. After the Bajrang Dal karyakartas' intervention, the principal retracted his decision.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

In this case, the school refused to grant entry into the classroom to a Hindu student for wearing a religious Mala and saffron attire. This decision sparked outrage among Hindus, who said that the action of the school administration was driven by prejudice against their faith. This is not the first time such controversy has erupted. In 2022, in Karnataka, a heated debate erupted when Muslim girls insisted on wearing burqas and hijabs in schools and classrooms. At that time, politicians, social commentators, Hindu activists, and even the judiciary argued that schools have the right to enforce uniform rules. Uniformity was seen as a means to promote harmony and equality within classrooms. Therefore, disallowing hijabs was deemed enforcement of uniform policy rather than religious discrimination. A similar principle applies here. The school’s restriction on wearing saffron attire and mala may have been an enforcement of uniform rules rather than an act of religious bias. However, if a situation arose in which non-Hindu students were permitted to wear their religious attire and symbols while Hindu students were barred from wearing theirs, this would constitute a clear instance of hate crime, exposing outright discrimination and double standards. Such treatment undermines fairness and amounts to discrimination on the basis of religion. At present, based on available information, such differential treatment does not appear evident in this case. Therefore, this case is being added to the 'Undecided' database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. If any further information emerges indicating religious bias, it will be reclassified and added to the Hate Crime database. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incident dates based on when the crime occurs or becomes known, rather than when it appears in mainstream or social media reports. In this case, only the social media highlight date of 20 November 2025 is available. Therefore, this date serves as the indicative incident date of the incident.