St Francis College for Women, which is a reputed college for girls in Hyderabad has placed a dress code for its students. Under the new rule, the students have been ordered to wear kurtis below knee length with sleeves while shorts, sleeveless or other similar dresses are banned in the campus.



As a result of the new rule, several students were not allowed to attend classes as their dresses were not as per the "guidelines".



The new dictate came into effect from August 1.



A group of students have captured the video of dress code implementation and termed the diktat as regressive, backward and outdated.



One of the students, in the video, can be heard saying, "At a time when we are talking about women empowerment, such a diktat is against the entire campaign."



In a Facebook post by former student at St Francis College, Zanobia Tumbi said that the college had announced a new dress code in the middle of the year. She also said that the student representatives were told that "a long kurti would get us good marriage proposals".



Zanobia Tumbi, in her post, said that the college authorities told the student representatives that "standing up for a cause is blasphemous, raising your voice is blasphemous".



She also said that the students were humiliated everyday for wearing a kurti that "was just an inch or less above the knee". The students were made to stand outside the college, losing out on classes and tests.



The college also hired female security guards to check the length of the kurtis. "They went ahead and pulled girls by their id cards and even pulled their kurtis," Zanobia Tumbi wrote in her Facebook post.



The students have called for a protest against the new dress code on Monday.