Chennai: An HIV-positive boy was allegedly denied admission to a government high school in Perambulur district, Tamil Nadu, prompting the Tamil Nadu Education Department to order an inquiry.

School education director S Kannappan has sought a report from the chief educational officer of the district regarding the denial of admission to the boy, reports said.

The boy had been asked to come for admission to the school in Kolakkanatham in neighbouring Perambalur district about a week ago, but was turned away on Wednesday (July 10).

According to reports, the director of school education on Friday (July 12) wanted to know why the boy was denied admission and what transpired during a meeting between the parents and the school headmaster K Kamaraj.

There was allegedly a quarrel between the headmaster and the boy's relatives over denial of admission "due to the poor academic performance of the student".

The headmaster, however, said he did not deny admission to the boy nor did he have the power to do so.

The headmaster and the Perambulur chief educational officer, Arul Rangan, said the boy would be given admission if he approached them.

Earlier, in 2018, a  pregnant lady in Tamil Nadu was infected with HIV after undergoing blood transfusion at Sattur government hospital. However, the 19-year-old blood donor, who was affected by HIV positive attempted suicide as he feared shame.

Meanwhile, it could be seen that the number of HIV cases and mistreatment from Tamil Nadu has become a severe issue of the state.

In a data released by the Tamil Nadu AIDS Control Society (TANSACS) in December 2018, the number of newly-reported HIV cases in Tamil Nadu during 2016-17 was 11,775 while the corresponding figure for the financial year 2017-18 is 10,527 cases.