Manama: A teacher has been suspended for one week after she reportedly forced a young student to kiss her foot to greet her.

School authorities also decided to withhold the teacher's salary for the week over the incident, the school principal told Bahrain's education ministry after he was summoned to explain the incident.

The four-year-old student was transferred to another class to avoid dealing with the teacher, the school principal said.

The education ministry has come under tremendous pressure in social networks to take stringent action against the teacher and the school for humiliating the student amid claims that her ill-treatment was sect-based.