Sunali contends wearing nose stud is her right

DURBAN: A young Tamil-origin woman in South Africa is sticking to her contention that wearing of a nose stud is a time-honoured tradition and that it’s her constitutional right to do so.

Sunali Pillay, 18, of Durban has made this submission through her lawyers to the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg which is hearing an application by the Durban Girls High School that girls should not be allowed to wear the “nose adornment” as this would interfere with codes of conduct at the school.

Pillay stood her ground since 2004 when the school demanded that she stop wearing the nose ring. But her mother, Navi Pillay, contended from the start that wearing of a nose stud was a right for passage for adolescent girls whose lineage can be traced to south India. The school, however, banned the girl from wearing the nose stud and the Pillay family took the case to the Durban High Court, which ruled in favour of the school.

But the determined young woman and her mother lodged an appeal to the Appeal Court, which overturned the initial ruling and granted a verdict in favour of Sunali last year — her final year at school.

The school, however, refused to accept the appeal and lodged an application to the Constitutional Court. The case has aroused a great deal of interest in the country.