A school principal in Inner Mongolia, a northern Chinese region, was believed to have committed suicide after refusing to expel students who were protesting a new language curriculum imposed by Beijing, according to news circulating on the internet.

The woman was reportedly asked to resign from her post after she failed to follow official instructions to expel the protesting students. News of her death spread on Chinese cyberspace on Sunday. Authorities have not yet issued a confirmation.

Students in the autonomous region have staged class boycotts to oppose the central government’s policy to replace the native Mongolian language with Mandarin Chinese as the main medium of instruction from Sept. 1. Some parents have also pulled their children out of school.

Lately, internet users have been circulating a photo of the school principal to mourn her death.

The photo surfaced after another Mongolian, civil servant Su Rina, fell to her death on Sept. 4. Police said that the 33-year-old had a history of depression and self-harm, though a suicide note apparently expressed her wish to defend the Mongolian language.

Han Lianchao, a political scholar based in the United States, cited sources saying that the Chinese authorities were stepping up coercive measures in Inner Mongolia. Officials were giving a three-day deadline for Mongolian children to return to school, and non-compliant teachers would face reprisals, Han wrote on Twitter.

The list of potential measures also included legal fines for parents, student expulsions, firing of civil servants, and suspension of government benefits and loans.

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