Gujarat Village's Bizarre Diktats: No Mobile Phones, Fine For Inter-caste Marriage For Girls

In a bid to ‘ban intercaste marriages’, the Thakor community in Gujarat has imposed a bizarre diktat on women. 12 villages of Dantiwada taluka in Banaskantha district passed a resolution to ban mobile phones among unmarried women. Nearly 800 Thakor leaders attended the meeting where they also listed out punishments for those marrying outside the community.  If a Thakor girl falls in love with someone outside the caste, his family will be fined Rs 1.5 lakh. On the hand,  if a Thakor boy marries outside the caste, Rs 2 lakh fine will be imposed on his family.  The resolution was supported by Congress MLA from Vav constituency, Geniben Nagaji who belongs to the community. “This will automatically control boys. Since girls are easily controlled because they stay with parents, it is right to ban (mobile phone use among) girls,” she told ANI.