Bareilly, Dec 20 (IANS): Five students of a government-aided school in Faridpur area of Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district were forced to take a bath in cold water at a pumping set, as punishment.

The principal thought the children had skipped their morning shower before coming to school.

The incident took place on Tuesday in Chhatrapati Shivaji Inter College, Bareilly where after morning assembly, principal Ranvijay Singh identified five students who, he said, had come to school without taking a shower.

He said the idea was not to punish them but to encourage them to come to school neat and clean so that they may lead a healthy life.

“We checked nails, shoes, uniforms, etc during assembly and found five students who had come without taking a bath. During the interval, we took them to the school pumping set, told them to take their uniforms off and take a bath,” Ranvijay Singh said.

The pumping set was made operational after which the five students bathed in the cold water at around 10 a.m.

After that they donned their uniforms and were made to stand in a line.

The principal made a video in which he told students that in future they must come to school after taking a bath.