Unmarried girls are not allowed to use cell phones in this Gujarat village (Image for representation)
We live in times when women are conquering every male-dominated field but there are those who still hold regressive views.
Do you believe that using mobile phone can 'violate society norms'? This Gujarat village thinks so.
Recently, in a community meeting in Jalol villgae in Banaskantha, Gujarat, some "crucial" decisions were taken. The decisions involved banning the use of mobile phones by unmarried girls. As though the mere announcement was not regressive enough, it was declared that use of mobile phones by unmarried girl will constitute a crime. Not just this, any girl marrying without parents' consent will also be a crime and the girl's father will have to pay up Rs 1.5 lakh. Final decisions on these measures will be taken in the next community meeting. But the proposals have created a furore nonetheless.
Former Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor expressed displeasure over these developments.
"Some rules about reducing expenses in marriages are good. But there is an issue in the rule that does not allow teenage girls to keep mobile phones. If they had made a rule about boys then it would be good. I can't say anything about the rule on love marriages since my marriage was also a love marriage," he told ANI.
The villagers have termed the new rules as their "constitution"
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