From being born a girl to how they dress, every aspect of a woman’s life is dissected and put under a microscope. According to society, good women do not argue, are good cooks, wear modest clothing, and most importantly, are virgins before marriage. In the archaic practice of virginity testing, women have to prove their ‘purity’ by undergoing a test. Why are we so concerned with the concept of virginity? Why is being a virgin a prerequisite for getting married?
Recently, a new bride was abandoned by her in-laws after she failed a virginity test in the Bhilwara district of Rajasthan. The panchayat imposed a fine of 10 lakh rupees on the bride and her family. When the money was not given, the woman and her family faced harassment from the in-laws.
Police station-in-charge Ayub Khan said that the 24-year-old woman got married on May 11, 2022. After the marriage, she was made to undergo a virginity test which she could not pass. She alleged that before she got married a man in her neighbourhood had raped her. The bride added that her husband and mother-in-law beat her up before calling a panchayat on the matter.
Bride Fails Virginity Test
During the panchayat, the woman’s family informed them about the rape case they had registered. However, the panchayat was called again on May 31 and imposed a fine of 10 lakh rupees on the girl.
After months of harassment, the bride and her family filed a police complaint against her husband, in-laws, and panchayat for allegedly hounding them for payment. The FIR stated that the husband and his family assaulted her before the panchayat meeting at a local temple.
Deputy Superintendent Surendra Kumar said a case was registered under the Indian Penal Code Section 498A (coercing a woman to meet any unlawful demand), 384 (extortion), 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).
Kumar added, “The fact that the identity of the victim has been revealed by the khap panchayat is also a crime.”
Suggested Reading: FIR Lodged Against In-Laws Over Alleged Torture Of Woman After 'Failed Virginity Test'
Virginity Test
A virginity test is a practice of determining whether a girl or woman is a virgin or has never engaged or been subjected to sexual intercourse. The test typically involves a check for the presence of an intact hymen, based on the incorrect assumption that the hymen can only be torn as a result of sexual intercourse.
The virginity test is controversial and viewed to be unethical. The United Nations (UN) Human Rights, UN Women, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have called for a ban on virginity testing. Calling the test “medically unnecessary” the organisations further described it as a painful, traumatic, and humiliating practice. However, slamming the practice has done little to discourage society's obsession with intact hymens.
Sexual intercourse before marriage is said reduce the value of a woman, but then why are similar standards not applied to men? Why should women be forced to ignore their desires for the sake of purity? In the recent case, the bride alleged that she had been raped but what her husband, in-laws, and the panchayat cared about was her virginity, and not the trauma that she had endured. The woman was punished for being raped and was deemed "impure".
Even a woman's trauma and sexual assault were made to be about her husband and his preferences. She was also forced to pay a fine for failing the virginity test and faced harassment from her husband's family for not making the payment.
Forcing the woman to undergo the virginity test and then punishing her based on the result is unlawful, cruel, and humiliating. She was forced to speak out about being raped to explain the results of the unscientific virginity test and was then fined for the same. The woman was forced to undergo the same simply because of society's expectation that women must be "pure" before they get married.
Views expressed are the author's own.
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