Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 29 (IANS): Police Monday took into custody a woman principal of a private, unaided school here after complaints surfaced that she had kept a six-year-old under-kindergarten student in a kennel.

Social Justice Minister M.K. Muneer said the moment this came to his notice he alerted all the authorities and decided to take severe action against those responsible.

"I have directed the authorities to see that a thorough probe is done and no leniency is shown. This is a condemnable act and have asked to see if there have been similar episodes that took place in that school before," Muneer told the media here Monday.

Alhough the incident took place on Thursday last, it surfaced Monday when the boy refused to go to school. When the boy's sister, a class three student in the same school, asked him what had happened the boy said that last Thursday as he was talking to his classmate, the principal got agitated and first drove out the dog from the kennel and then asked him to go into the kennel and locked it up.

The boy was let out after three hours.

Agitated locals staged a protest in front of the school this morning and TV channels aired it. The police then arrived and had a tough time to pacify the crowd.

The school authorities meanwhile denied any such incident taking place at their institution.