Prosecutors in central Russia have opened an investigation into the suspension of a high school student for pink-colored hair.
Perm resident Zinaida Agisheva, 15, was reportedly suspended from classes earlier this month for violating a local school’s dress code after dying her hair pink. She was later reinstated after returning “with normal hair,” the school’s director told local media last week.
Perm prosecutors said they have opened administrative proceedings against the school and its principal for violating Agisheva’s right to receive an education.
The regional prosecutor’s office added that it had lodged a “protest” against the school’s dress code.
“The [dress code] did not authorize the school to set requirements for the students’ hair color and length,” it said in an online statement Thursday.
Agisheva’s mother Nadezhda, who is a local municipal deputy, wrote on Facebook that she was not seeking to prosecute the school administration.
Following national media attention, social media users dyed their hair pink in support of Agisheva and a regional human rights commissioner criticized the suspension as discriminatory.
“‘Adults’ think if they’re older, they’re right and there are no other opinions,” Agisheva wrote on her Instagram account. “No ‘adult’ has the right to dictate how to live your life.”
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