A schoolgirl banned by a top Kerala school over a "long hug" said for months she would keep crying as she watched others go to school. In March, the Class 11 student of St Thomas Central School in Thiruvananthapuram had just performed a song at an event when her friend in Class 12 wrapped her in a hug in the corridor. That became a defining moment in their lives. The boy, 17, was suspended and the 16-year-old girl, who had joined barely a month before, was stopped from entering school. After widespread outrage, the school has yielded an inch and asked the central education board to let the boy sit for his exams.
