‘Rape of the Lock’
Women’s hair has inspired literary works down the ages, like 18th century poet Alexander Pope’s satirical verse The rape of the Lock and master short-story writer O Henry’s The Gift of Maggi. They show how dear hair locks are to women.

Such being the case, the agony of a schoolgirl who had her hair cut as punishment can well be felt. Fourteen-year-old Sulochana, studying in the 9th standard in a government higher secondary school in Maraimalainagar, about 40 km from Chennai, was abused by her teachers for sporting a ponytail  in violation of the rule that girls should wear double plaits.

One of the teachers allegedly cut her hair, according to a complaint lodged with the police by her father V Sankaran.

Following this, district education officials visited the school and met the teachers and the girl’s parents.
The local Pattali Makkal Katchi legislator D Moorthy also tried to mediate.

After getting an assurance from the school authorities that Sulochana would be transferred to a different section and would not be penalised for making the incident public, the father was asked to withdraw the complaint.
The girl has, however, alleged that she was forced to give in writing that she had cut the hair herself and the father was made to withdraw the complaint.

Vasudevan, who owns a roadside eatery, has said that authorities were not supportive when he told of the rudeness of teachers to students.

“My daughter is not safe in that school anymore. I’ll either put her in some other school or discontinue her studies,” he said.

S Murari, Chennai