Why did a private school in Bhubaneswar confine 34 students in a room for five hours? 

Several students, more than a dozen of them, from a private school located in Bhubaneswar were reportedly confined in a room by teachers who alleged that their fees were not paid by their guardians.

Following this, furious parents of many students staged a sit-in protest in Ghatikia, Bhubaneswar on Tuesday, August 23. They demanded strict action against the teachers for harassing the students, as stated in a report by PTI.

As many as 34 students were confined to a room for more than five hours. This incident happened on Monday, August 21. The confined students were not allowed to eat, drink or even use the washrooms, their parents conveyed to the reporters.

The teachers even rejected the requests of children to call and inform their parents. The students wished to inform the parents that they were confined because their tuition fees was not paid in a timely manner.

Post this, the authorities of the school handed over a notice to students and asked them to pass it on to their parents.

It was the claim of one of the parents that they had paid the tuition fees already but it was because of a technical glitch that it wasn't reflected in the records.

A school spokesperson refused to comment on the issue.