A first-year law college student in Coimbatore was suspended Friday following a class speech on the horrific rape case of an eight-year-old in Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir. Two days after the incident, the college’s principal K S Gopalakrishnan told media on Sunday that the student was suspended not for speaking on Kathua but for speaking on patriarchy and saying society was male chauvinistic.

R Priya had spoken in class on Friday morning and was suspended that afternoon for inciting “religious and gender hatred.”

“She spoke on patriarchy and called society male chauvinistic which led to a clash-like situation between boys and girls in the class. The girl picked a quarrel with a staff who questioned her. Hence, the action,” Gopalakrishnan said, alleging that Priya was spreading false information by claiming she was suspended for speaking on Kathua.

An inquiry committee had been formed to probe the incident and its report would be sent to Dr. Ambedkar Law University in Chennai, the principal said, admitting he had not asked Priya for an explanation. “She did not meet me after she got the order. So, I was not able to get an explanation from her,” he said.

One of Priya’s classmates, however, disputed the college’s version. The student said Priya spoke about the Kathua case and went on to call the society a male chauvinist one. “Then a boy asked her not to make a general statement and this led to a serious debate,” the student said, adding, “It was a debate held as part of academic activity in class.”