A 16-year-old student of a school at Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram in India has been suspended indefinitely—over a hug that lasted too long. Worried that he may be forced to miss his Class 12 board exams, his parents are set to move the Kerala High Court against its own order, reports NDTV.

The principal of St Thomas Central School confirmed that the teen had been suspended five months ago over the ‘long hug’ on school premises and Instagram posts.

‘He was found hugging a girl for a long time in an isolated area, near a staircase in the school. If it was just a congratulatory hug, it would have finished in seconds. But this lasted long. And only when the teacher literally shouted at them did they let go of each other,’ said Sebastian T Joseph, the school principal.

‘Besides this, we also found that they had posted several pictures in very intimate positions on Instagram and this was being circulated by their friends, with hundreds of likes. This is unacceptable,’ he said.

The student says he can’t believe he could miss his exam and a whole year.

‘They called me all kinds of sexually explicit names, in front of my grandmother... treated me like a rapist, criminal despite me apologising. I want to write my boards,’ he added.

‘The Instagram pictures were from my private account.They circulated it.’

The girl, who is in Class 11, says she was also suspended in July.

‘I didn’t have any objection to him hugging me after my performance. It was just for few seconds. And school says it was for five minutes. They abused me, slut shamed and used very harsh words against me and my family, questioning my upbringing. They harassed us,’ the 16-year-old told NDTV.