Udupi college in hijab row closed after six students and teacher catch Covid

Government Women’s Pre-University College, Udupi, announced that in-person classes had been cancelled after six students and a lecturer tested positive.

By: Express News Service
Bengaluru | January 21, 2022 09:39 PM IST

The shutdown comes in the middle of a controversy where seven Muslim students were denied entry to classes by the college authorities for wearing headscarves.

A pre-university college in Karnataka’s Udupi district that triggered a controversy by banning the hijab in classrooms has been closed after six students and a lecturer tested positive for the coronavirus.

Government Women’s Pre-University College, Udupi, announced that in-person classes had been cancelled after six students and a lecturer tested positive. Rudre Gowda, principal of the college, told the Indian Express that after the results of these students came out, about 110 more students had undergone tests. “A lot of students have complained of symptoms such as fever, cold, cough and body pain. We will consider opening the college after receiving reports of the students who have undergone tests. If nobody tests positive, the college will reopen on 27 January,” he said.

The shutdown comes in the middle of a controversy where seven Muslim students were denied entry to classes by the college authorities for wearing headscarves. Though the Minority Welfare, Haj and Waqf Department wrote on Monday to the Deputy Commissioner of the district to allow hijab-clad girls to attend classes, the seven students haven’t been allowed inside classrooms so far. Gowda said that three other colleges in the district had also been closed after Covid-19 cases were reported there.

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